\ 



FLORIDA AND TEXAS. 



A SERIES OF LETTERS 



Comparing the Soil, Climate, and Productions of these States, 



SETTING FORTH MANY ADVANTAGES THAT 



EAST AND SOUTH FLORIDA 



0JPZ«X2Z1. •PG» TslVuTXCrlEt,Jk,T(rTm. 



OCALA, FLORIDA : 

PRINTED AT TFIK "EAST FLORIDA BANNER" OFFICE, 

BYT F.SMITH. 

186G. 



'mm 






A SERIES OF LETTERS 



Coiiipai'iiig the Soil, Climate, and Productions of these States 



SETTING FORTH MANY ADVANTAGES THAT 



EAST AND SOUTH FLORIDA 



OI'DF'EJU.lS TO ES3MIC3r:E^.A.lW17S. 



OCALA; FLORIDA : 

rPJNTED AT THE "EAST FLORIDA BANNER" OBTICE, 
BY T, F. SMITFT. 



]806. 






SIR : — This pamphlet is sent that you and your neighbors may see 
the advantages of the soil, climate, and productions of East and South 
Florida. If there is any family in your neighbohood who design seek- 
ing a new home, please hand it over to them for perusal. 






NO. 1. 

Gainesville, Fla., Ap'l 1, 'GO. 

As a great deal of delusion pre- 
vails, both North and South, re- 
spectino; the relative advantages 
■which Florida and Texas present 
to the emigrant, and as a long resi- 
dence in each of these States has 
enabled me to derive correct infor- 
mation on this subject, I propose 
communicating through your wide- 
ly circulated journal, in a series of 
brief articles, such facts as I think 
may be useful to those who desire 
to emigrate to either of those coun- 
tries. 

As ihQ first consideration with 
every emigrant should be the char- 
acter of the climate in which he in- 
tends to make a permanent resi- 
dence, I shall commence by dis- 
cussing first, the climate of Florida 
anvl that of Texas. 

The climate of Florida and es- 
pecki^^ly that of the Peninsular, 
taking it the whole year around, is 
much more agreeable than any other 
in the United States ; and indeed it 
would be difficult to find a climate 
in any part of the world so agreea- 
ble as this. The winters are de- 
lightful, five days out of six being 
bright and cloudless, and of the 
most agreeable temperature. In 
the Southern portion of thg Penin- 
sular frost is never felt, and even 
far North as the Suwannee River 
there are generally but two or three 
nights in a whole winter that ice as 
thick as a half dollar is found. — ■ 
Carver in discussing the winters of 
the Peninsular, remarks : '-^o mild 
are winters in East Florida that 
the most delicate vegetables and 
plants of the Carrabec Islands ex- 



perience there not the least injury 
from that season ; the orangee tree, 
the bananna, the plantain, the 
guava, the pineapple, (fee, grow 
luxurantly. Fogs are scarcely 
known there, and no country can be 
more salubrious." 

The winter in Florida resembles 
very much that season which in 
the middle States is termed the 
"Indian Summer," except that in 
Florida the sky is perfectly clear, 
and the atmosphere more dry and 
elastic. Rain but rarely falls dur- 
ing the winter months in Florida ; 
three, four, and not unfrequently 
five weeks, of bright, clear and 
cloudless days occur continuously. 
This is one of the greatest charms 
of the winter climate in Florida ; 
and in this respect it forms a strik- 
ing contrast with almost every 
State in the Union, and especially 
with Texas, California and Oregon. 

ContraPjj to what might be ex- 
pected, the Eummer weather in 
East Florido is much more agreea- 
ble, and its heat less oppressive 
(thoug its duration is much lon- 
ger,) than that which is experienc- 
ed in the Northern and Middle 
States. This is attributable in a 
great measure, to its peninsular 
position, which causes it to be 
fanned on the East by the Atlantic 
breezes, and on the West by those 
of the Gulf of Mexico, both of which 
can be distinctly felt in the centre 
of the State. Besides this, the 
North-east trade winds play over 
the whole Peninsula, The summer 
nights are invariably cool — and 
the even hottest days are seldom 
oppressive in the shade. This is 
more than any State North of Flor- 



ida can bonst, and is probaLlj owing 
to her peninsular character. Para- ' 
(lexical as it may seem, the ther- 
mometer ranges touch higher (lur- 
ing the summer months in New 
York, Boston and Montreal, than 
in St. Augustine, Tampa, or Key 
West. In the former cities, the 
thermometer frequently ranges as 
high as 100 and 105 in the shade 
and that too, ^vithout any breeze to 
relieve it, whereas, it but rarely 
reaches as high as 90 at any of the 
latter places. I am credibly in- 
formed that a register kept at Key 
West (the extreme South of Florida) 
for foueteen years, exhibited but 
three instances, during the whole 
period, in which the mercury rose 
as high as 94 in the shade. But, 
did it rise even to 104, such is the 
constant prevalence of refreshing 
sea-breezes, that less inconvenience 
would be experienced from it than 
Viheci it was 85 in th^humid and 
stagnant atmospheres of other cli- 
mates. 

General Lawson Surgeon- General 
of the Army, in his official report 
on the climate, diseases. &c., of 
Flori 'a, remarks : "The climate of 
I'lorida is remarkably equable and 
agreeable, being subject to fewer 
atmospheric variations, and its ther- 
mometer ranges much less than any 
other part of the United States 
except a portion of the coast of Cal- 
ifornia. For example, the Winter 
at Fort Snelling, Minnesota Terri- 
tory is 48 degrees colder than at 
Fort Brooke, Florida ; but the 
dimmer at Fort Brooke is only 
about 8 degrees warmer. The 
mean annual tcrajjcrature of Au- 
gusta, Geori?ia, is'ncarlv 8 dca;rcc3. 



and that of Fort Gibson. iVrkanf^as, 
upwards of 10 degrees lower than 
at Tampa ; yet in both these places, 
the mean Summer Temperature is 
higher than at Fort Brooke, Tampa 
Bay. In the Summer season the 
mercury rises higher in every pare 
of the United States, and even in 
Canada, than it does along the coast 
of Florida. This is shown by me- 
terological statistics in this Bu- 
reau. 

The Summer in Florida may be 
said to be seven months long; oo 
that the duration of xyarra weather 
is nearly twice as long as in the 
Middle States. The weather dur- 
ing the whole of these seven months 
is however, generally of a very 
pleasant temperature, the nights 
being uniformly cool and sultry 
days of very rare occurrence. In- 
deed so agreeable are the suran.brs 
in East Florida, there is little 
choice between them and th«? win- 
ters ; and many of the oldest in- 
habitants say that they prefer the 
former. 

The seasons in Florida are prob- 
ably as favorable as in any other 
State in the Union. There occur 
there, as in every other State, oc- 
casional droughts of two long du- 
ration, and there is sometimes a, 
superabundance of rain ; but, as a 
general rule the seasons are rei^a- 
lar and well adapted to all the val- 
uable staples of that country. — 
Frequent showers occur the during 
the months of March, April, May 
and June, and about the first of 
Jul}' Ivhat is termed •'the rainy 
season" commences and continue 
till about the middle of September. 
Althougli it rains about every day 



(luihig this season it scarccl3' rains 
nil day. These rains fiill in very 
heavy showers, accompaniecl by 
thunder and lightning, and seldom 
last longer than four hours each 
day. They gonerallyj commence at 
1 o'clock, P. M., and are entirely 
over by 5 o'clock , P. M., leaving 
for the 'remaining "twenty hours of 
the day a cloudless sky and a de- 
lightfully cool atmosphere.* One 
of the great virtues of the Florida 
climate is, that nearly all the rains 
falls diiring the productive season 
of the year; and that during the 
winter months, when rains are but 
little required they seldom fall. — 
The reverse of this occurs in Texas, 
California, Oregon, and in nearly 
all the Mexican States. 

As respects health, the climate 
of Florida stands pre-eminent. — 
That the peninsular climate of 
Florida is much more salubrious 
than that of any other Stato in the 
Union, is clearly established by the 
medical statistics of the army, as 
well as by the last census returns, 
in froof of this the most conclusive 
evidence can be presented ; but it 
Avill be sufficient here to quote a 
few remarks from the official Report 
of the Surgeon-General on this sub- 
ject. General Lawson states. — 
"Indeed, the statistics in this Bu- 
reau demonstrate the fact that the 
diseases which result from malaria 
are a much milder type in the Pe- 
ninsula of Florida than in any other 
State in the Union. These records 
show that the ratio of deaths to the 
number of cases of remittent fever 
has been much less among the 

*L'lic Jiveruge here is too liiirli. Wc are 
assured the}- do not average more than 
oiiu hoiirpL>r diiy. — V.-\ BA-^Nicu. 



troops serving in any otiiicr portion 
of the United States In the Mid- 
dle Division of the United i States 
the proportion is one death to thir- 
ty-six cases of remittent faver ; has 
in the Northern Division, one to 
fifty-two; in the Southern Division, 
one to fifty-four ; in Texas, one to 
seventj-eight ; in California, one to 
one hundred and twenty-two ; in 
New Mexico, one to one hundred 
and forty eight ; while in Flordu it 
is but one to two hundred and 
eighty-seven. 

"The general heathfulness of 
many parts of Florida, particularly 
on its coast, is proverbial. The 
average annual mortality of the 
whole Peninsula, from returns in 
this office, is found to bo 2.06 per 
cent., Avhile the other portions of 
the United States (previous to the 
war with Mexico) it is 3 05 per 
cent. 

In short, it may be asserted, 
without fear of refutation, that 
J lorida posseses a much more 
agreeable and salubrious climate 
than any other State or Territory 
in thp Union, and that her sea- 
sons are more favorable to the pro- 
duction of Cotton and Sugar than 
any Southern State. 

IIow does the climate of Texas 
compare with that of Florida 7 
Extensive as Texas is, there is no 
portion of that vast State, between 
the Sabine and Rio Grande, that 
possesses a climate at all compara- 
table to that of Florida. The ex- 
tremes of temperature are much 
greater in every portion j;^f Texas 
than in any portion of Florida. As 
far North as the Sabii\a the lacrcu- 
ry fi-cqucntly i^rses as high as ICi-i 



G 



in the sha<lc ; and as far South as 
Aransas Bay it frequently falls bo 
low as to freeze salt water and kill 
the fish ! This latter phenomenon 
I witnessed rayself in the winter of 
1845-C, at Corpus Christi, when 
the whole margin of Aransas Bay 
was fringed with thick ice. 

But it is not merely as respects 
the extremes of temperature that 
the climate of Texas is so much 
Jess dersirable than that of Florida. 
Texas is, by the regular and fre- 
quent prevalence of "Northers," 
afflicted with a climatic curse which 
is entirely unknown in Florida. — 
These "Northers" which may be 
regarded as a Texas "institution," 
are tremendous. North-west gales 
which suddenly spring up, and 
sweep with unbroken fury over 
vast praires of the West, then over 
Texas, and finally exhausc them- 
selves in the Gulf of Mexico. They 
last on the average about eixteen 
hours, and recur on the average 
twice a week. They prevail at all 
seasons of the year, so that they 
are an everlasting afiliction. In 
winter they are felt as cold gales, 
which not unfrequently cause the 
mercury to fall forty degrees in 
half an hour. In summer they are 
strong blustering, dry, hot winds, 
which "parch and destroy," after 
the fashion of a "sirocco." In 
short, these "Northers," as I said 
before, are the curse of Texas ; for 
were it not for these, she would not- 
withstanding the great and sudden 
extremes of temperature, have an 
agreeable climate during the sum- 
mer season, when, for about six 
months in succession, there falls no 
rain, and in the (Inys arc bright anil 



cloudless. 

As respects health the climate of 
Texas, though far inferior to that 
of Florida, is probably on the Avhole 
much better thi3n the climate of 
several of the other Southern 
States. The malaria diseases are 
not generally of so grave a type as 
those which prevail in Arkansas, 
Mississippi and Louisiana. 

It is scarcely necessary to say, 
that a climate which is character- 
ized, and afflicted by such frequent 
"Northers," cannot be favorable to 
invalids, who labor under chest 
affections ; a class of diseases to 
the cure of which the mild, balraly, 
equable climate of Florida, aided 
by the aroma of her pine forests, is 
so well adapted. 

As regards the season, there is 
probably no State in the Union in 
which they are so unfavorable to 
agriculture, and when crops are so 
precarious as in Texas, and espec- 
ially in the Western portion of it. 
The rains fall uniformly, during 
the winter season, when rains are 
but little required ; and during the 
productive season of the year there 
generally prevails an uninterrupted 
drought of many months. The 
lands being generally very fertile, 
whenever the "seasons happens to 
hit" an enormous crop can be made. 
But, so generally do the seasons 
miss, that one good crop out of four 
is about the average result. Ilenco 
although we sometimes hear of very 
large crops being made in Texas, 
these are only exceptions to the 
rule of their fiiilure, and it is noto- 
rious that stock raising is much 
more profitable than planting in 
nearly every portion of Texas. — 



Indeed the Mexicans were from 
long experience, so well convinced 
of the unreliable character of the 
seasons in Texas that they resorted 
to irrigation as the only means of 
obviating the evil. 

If the" statements which I have 
here made be correct — and I chal- 
lenge their refutation — it must be 
admitted that Florida presents to 
the emigrant three cardinal advan- 
tages over Texas, viz : A much 
more salubrious and a much more 
agreeable climate, and seasons 
much more favorable to agriculture. 

In my next I shall discuss some 
other matters relating to those two 
States, which I trust will prove 
useful to those who intend to emi- 
grate from their ft-esent homes, 
VERDAD. 



NO. II. 



Gainesville, Fla., Ap'l 6, '60 
Having, in my former letter, ad- 
duced facts to prove that the cli- 
mate of Florida is much more salu- 
brious and agreeable than that of 
Te^as, and the reasons in the for- 
mer are much more favorable to ag- 
riculturure than in the latter coun- 
try. I shall next proceed to dis- 
cuss the soils and productions of 
those two States respectively. 

There is in every State and Ter- 
ritory in the Union, a very large 
proportion of barren and poor lands; 
but that the ratio of these lands dif- 
fer greatly in different States, 
Florida has a due proportion of 
poor lands ; but, compared with 
other States, the ratio of her barren 
and woiihless lands is very small. 
"With the exception of the Ever- 
glades, (which though at present 



unavailable, arc capable of being 
reclaimed at a moderate expense,) 
and her irreclaimable swamp lands, 
there is scarcely an acre in the 
whole State of Florida that is entire- 
ly worthless, or which cannot be 
made under her tropical climate, 
tributary to some agricultural pro- 
duction. Lands which in a more 
Northern climate would be utterly 
worthless, will, in Florida, owing to 
her tropical character, yield valua- 
ble productions. For example, the 
poorest pine barren lands of Florida, 
will produce "without manure, a lux- 
uriant crop of Sisal Hemp, which 
yields more profit to the acre than 
the richest land will when cultiva- 
ted in sugar, cotton or tobacco. So 
it is with numerous other valuable 
tropical products that are adapted 
to the lands, that in more Northern 
cliniates, would yield nothing to 
agriculture. Besides this, there 
are in Florida no mountain wastes 
— no barren praires — and there are 
but few acres in the whole State 
not under cultivation, that are not 
covered with valuable timber. 

I shall here give a brief sketch 
of the different, descriptions of the 
lands in Florida. 

Pine lands (pitch and yellow pine) 
form the basis of Florida. These 
lands are usually divided, into three 
classes, denoting first, second and 
third rate pinejlands. 

That which is denominated "first 
rate pine land" in Florida has noth- 
ing analogous to it in any of the 
other States. Its surface is covered, 
for several inches deep, with a dark 
vegetable mould, beneath which, to 
the deph of several feet, is a choco- 
late colored sandy loam, mixed Trith 



the raos-t part, >Yith limestone peb- 
bles, and resting on a substratum 
of marl, clay or limestone rock. The 
fertility and durability of this de- 
scription of land may be estimated 
from the well-known fact that it 
has, on the Upper Suwannee and 
in several other districts, yielded, 
during fourteen years of successive 
cultivation, without the aid of 
manure, four hundred pounds of 
Sea Island Cotton to the acre. — 
These lands are still as productive 
as eter, 80 that the limit of their 
durability is still unknown.* 

The "second rate pine" land, 
which form the largest proportion of 
Florida, are all productive, and can, 
by a proper system of cultivation, 
be rendered much more valuable 
than the best lands in Texas. These 
lands afford fine natural pasturage, 
they are heavily timbered with the 
best species of pitch and yellow 
pine ; they are, for the most part, 
high, rolling, healthy and well-wa- 
tered. They are (generally based 
upon marl, clay or limestone. They 
will produce for several years with- 
out the aid ofmanure, and when cow- 
penned, they will yield two thou- 
sand pounds of the best quality 
sugar to the acre, or about three 
hundred pounds of Sea Island, Cot- 
ton. They will besides, when 
properly cultivated, produce the 
finest Cuba tobacco, oranges, lemons, 
limes, and various other tropical 
productions, which must in many 
instances, render them more valua- 
ble than the best bottom lands in 
more Northern States. 



*They produce on an average about 
l\v() hundred pounds of lint cotton per 
aoro? — Bannciv 



Even the lands of the "third 
rate,' or most inferior class, are by 
no means worthless under the cli- 
mate of Florida. This class of 
lands may be divided into two 
orders ; the one comprising high 
rolling sandy districts, which are 
sparsely cuvered with a stunted 
growth of "blackjack" and pine ; 
the other embracing low, flat, 
swampy regions, which are fre- 
quently studded with "bay-galls," 
and are occasionally inundated, but 
which are covered with luxuriant 
vegetation, and very generally 
with valuable timber. The former 
of those, it is now ascertained 
owing to their calcareous soil, well 
adapted to the growth of the Sisal 
Hemp, which is ^valuable tropical 
production. This plant (the Agave 
Sisiliana) and the Agave MexiCana 
Hemp, also known as the Maguay, 
the Pulke Plant, the Century Plant, 
&c., have both been introduced 
into Florida, and they both grow 
in great perfection on the poorest 
lauds of the country. As these 
plants derive their chief support 
from the atmosphere, they will, like 
the common air plant, preserve 
their vitality for many months 
when left out of the ground. 

It is scarcely necessary too add ; 
that the second order of the third 
rate pine lands, as here described, 
is far from worthless. These lands 
afford a most excellent range for 
cattle, besides being valuable for 
their timber and the naval stores 
which they will produce. 

There is one general feature in 
the topography of Florida, which 
no other country in the United 
States possesses, an<l whicK afford 



a great security to tlic iicaltli of its 
inhabitants. It is this, that the 
pine lands which form the basis of 
the country, and -which arc almost 
universally healthy, are nearly 
everywhere studded at intervals of 
a few miles, with hammock lamls 
of the richest quality. These ham- 
mocks arc not, as is generally sup- 
posed, low wet lands, they never 
require either ditching or draining. 
They vary in extent from twenty 
acres to forty thousand acres, and 
will probably average about 500 
acres each. Hence the inhabitants 
have it everywhere in their power 
to select residences in the pine 
lands, at such convenient distances 
from the hammocks as will enable 
them to cultivate the latter witjiout 
endangering their health, if it 
should so happen tjiat any of the 
hammocks proved to be less healthy 
than the pine woods. 

Experience in Florida has satis- 
faotorily shown that residences only 
half a mile distant from cultivated 
hammocks are entirely exempt 
from malaria diseases, and that the 
negroes who cultivate those ham- 
mocks, and retire at night to pine 
land residences, maintain perfect 
health. Indeed it is found that 
residences in the hammocks them- 
selves are generally perfectly 
healthy after they have been a few 
years cleared. Newly cleared lands 
are sometimes attended with the 
development of more or less malaria. 
In Florida the diseases which re- 
sult from those clearings are, as I 
stated in my former letter, general- 
ly of the mildest type (simple inter- 
mittent fevcnt ;) while in nearly all 
the Southern States they are most 
irequcntlj of a severe grade of 



billious fever. 

The topographical feature If&rG 
noted, namely, a genteel intersper- 
sion of rich hammocks, surrounded 
by high dry rolling, healthy pine 
woods, is an advantage which no 
other State in the Union enjoys ; 
and Florida forms in this respect, 
a striking contrast with Louisiana, 
Mississippi and Texas, whose Su- 
gar and Cotton lands are generally 
surrounded by vast alluvial regions, 
subject to frequent innndations, so 
that it is impossible to obtain with- 
in many miles of them a healthy 
residence. 

It would seem paradoxical that 
the malaria diseases of East Flori- 
da (abunding as it does in rich ham- 
mock lands, and exposed to a tropi- 
cal sun,) should generally be of a 
much milder form than those which 
prevail in more Northern latitudes. 
That such, however, is the fiict, 
there can be do doubt ; for this fact 
is proved by an aggregate of evi- 
dence (extending over more than 
twenty years,) which it is impossi* 
ble to resist. It is suggested, in 
explanation of this fact, that the 
luxuriant vegetation, which in 
the Southern and Middle States, 
passess through all the stages of 
decomposition, is, in East Florida, 
generally dried up before it reaches 
the putrefactive stages of fermenta- 
tion, and that consequently the 
quantity of malaria generated is 
much less than in climates more 
favorable to decomposition. This 
view is strengthened by facts that 
the soil of Florida is almost every- 
where of so porous and absorbent 
a character that moisture is Beldom 
long retained on its surHice ; that 
its atmosphere is in constant mo- 



10 



tion, and that there is more clear 1 
sunshine than in the more Northern 
States. It is further suggested 
that the uniform prevalence of sea 
breezes, and the constant motion 
of the atmosphere in the Peninsula, 
tend so much to diffuse and attenu- 
ate "whatsoever poision is genera- 
ted, that it will genrallj produce 
but the mildest forms of malaria 
disease, such as intermittent fever. 

The lands which in Florida, are 
par excellence, denominated "rich 
landj"are first, the "swamp lands;" 
second, the "low hammock lands ;" 
third, the "high hammocks," and 
fourth, the "first-rate pine, oak and 
hickory lands." 

The swamp lands are, onquestion- 
ab]j, the most durably rich lands 
in the country. They are the most 
recently formed lands, and are still 
annually receiving additions to their 
surface. They are intrinsically the 
most valuable lands in Florida, be- 
ing as fertile in the beginning as 
the hammocks, and more durable. 
They are evidently, alluvial and of 
recent formation. They occupy 
natural depressions of basins, which 
have been gradually filled up by 
deposits, of vegetable debris, &c., 
washed in fi'om the adjacent and 
higher lands. Ditching is indis- 
pensiblo to all of them in their 
preparation for successful cultiva- 
tion. Properly prepared, however, 
their inexhaustible fertility sustains 
a succession of the most exhaustincr 
crops with astonishing vi2;or. The 
greatest yield of sugar ever realized 
in Florida, was produced on this 
description of land, viz : four hogs- 
heads per acre. That this quanti- 
ty Tvas produced on Dunmiilt's plan- 



tation near New Smyrna, is a fact 
well known to those conversant with 
sugar planting in East Florida. — 
Sugar cane is here instanced as a 
measure of the fertility of soil, be- 
cause it is one of the most exhaust- 
ing crops known, and is generally 
grown without rest or rotation. It 
is not however, a fair criterion by 
which to judge of the relative fertil- 
ity of lands situated in different 
climates, for we find on the richest 
lands in Louisiana of sugar per 
acre, is not more than one hogs- 
head, or about half that of East 
Florida. 

This great disparity in the pro- 
duct of those counties is accounted 
for not by any inferiority in the 
lands of Louisiana or Texas, but 
by the fact tliat the early incur- 
sions of frost in both these States 
renders it necessary to cut the cane 
in October which is long before it 
has reached maturity, while in East 
Florida it is permitted to stand, 
without fear of frost, till December, 
or till such time as it is fully ma- 
tured. It is well known that it 
"tassels" in East Florida, and it 
never does so in either Louisiana 
or Texas. When cane "tassels" it 
is evidence of its having reached 
full maturity. In consequence of 
the heavy outlay of capital required 
in the preparation of this descrip- 
tion of land for cultivation, and 
from the facility of obtaining ham- 
mock land, which requires no ditch- 
ing nor draining, swamp land has 
been but little sought after by per- 
sons engaged in planting in Flori- 
da, and there is now at least a mil- 
lion oF acres of the best dcscrijjtion 
of this laud vacant in the couiitrv. 



11 



and wliicli can be secured at less 
than two dollars per acre. Yast 
bodies of it lie convenient to navi- 
gation and railways, and doubtless 
will be sought after with avidity as 
soon as the sugar planters of Lou- 
isiana and Texas becomes apprized 
of its character, and of the many 
advantages which sugar planting in 
Florida presents over any other 
State in the Union. 

Low Hcunmocks, which from the 
fact of their participating of the 
nature o^ hammocks and swamps, 
are sometimes termed Swamrnock, 
are not inferior to swamps lands in 
fertility , but perhaps are not quite 
us durable. They are nearly al- 
ways level, or nearly so, and have 
a soil of greater tenacity than that 
of the high hamhiocks. Some 
ditching is necessary ia many of 
them. The soil in them is alwa3^s 
deep. These lands are also ex- 
tremely well^adapLed to the growth 
of the cane, as has been well attes 
ted by the many plantations which 
were formerly in operation here on 
this description of land. There is 
not nearly so large a proportion of 
low hammock as there is of swamp* 
lands. 

High Hammocks are the lands 
in the greatest repute in Florida, 
These differ from low hammocks in 
occupying higher ground, and in 
generally presenting an undulating 
surface. They are formed of a fine 
vegetable mould, mixed with a sandy 
loam in many places two feet deep, 
and resting, in most cases on a 
substratum of clay, marl of lime- 
stone. It will readily be under- 
stood by any one at all acquainted 
Viiih. agricalture, that auch a soil, 



in such a climate as Florida, must 
be extremely productive. This 
soil scarcely ever suffers from too 
much wet : nor does drought affect 
it in the same degree as other lands. 
High hammock lands produce with 
but little labor of cultivation, all 
the crops of the country in an emi- 
nent degree. Such lands have no 
tendency to break up in heavy 
masses, nor are they infested with 
pernicious weeds or grasses. Their 
extraordinary fertility and produc- 
tiveness may be estimated by the 
fact in several well known instances, 
in Marion county, (Clinch's Mc- 
intosh's (fcc.) three hogsheads of 
sugar have been made per acre on 
this description <of land, after it 
had been in cultivation six years in 
successive crops of corn, without 
the aid of manure. 

To sura up its advantages, it re- 
quires no other preparation than 
clearing and plowing to fit it at 
once for the greatest possible pro- 
duction of any kind of crop adapted 
to the climate. In unfavorable 
seasons it is much more certain to 
produce a good crop than any other 
kind of land, from the fact that it 
is less affected by exclusive dry or 
wet weather. It can be cultivated 
with much less labor than any other 
lands, being remarkably mellow, 
and its vicinity is generally high 
and healthy. These reasons are 
sufiicient to entitle it to the estima- 
tion in which it is held over all 
other lands. The only objection 
that can be brought against it is 
that, when subjected to the injudi- 
cious and impoverishing mode of 
culture pursued in the South, it 
may not be quite as durable as the 



12 



The first-rate pine, oak and lilck- 
orj lands are found in pretty ex- 
tensive bodies in many parts of 
the Sate, particularly in Marion, 
Alacliua and Hernando counties. 
From the fact that those lands can 
be cleared at "much less expense 
than the swamp arid hammock 
lands, they have heretofore been 
preferred by the small pluntevs, 
and have proved remarkably pro- 
ductive. 

There are, besides the lands al- 
ready noticed, extensive tracts of 
Savanna lands, which approximate 
in character, texture of the soil, and 
period and mode of formation, to the 
swamp lands, diifering only in being 
destitute of timber. Some of these 
lands, are however, extremely poor. 

I shall resume the subject of 
lands in my next letter. 

YERDAD. 



NO. III. 

Gainesvjlle, Fla., Ap'l 12, '00. 

It will be seen, by reference to tho 
brief and imperfect sketch of lands 
given in my last letter, that Florida 
possesses at least a due proportion of 
soils of the most fertile and desirable 
character, and moreover, that there is 
probably no Southern State that con 
tains so small a proportion ef unavaila- 
ble lauds. 

Probably the largest bodies of rich 
hammock land in East Florida are to 
be found in Levy, Alachua, Marion, 
Hernando and Suraptcr counties. There 
are in Levy county alone not less than 
one hundred thousand acres of the 
best de.scription of sugar lands ; and 
there is but a small proportion in any 
of the five counties here cited, that will 
not prodliot; rcnnmerative crops of Sea 
Island aud Short Stfij[i!c Cotton, \^ithouL 



ihfc aid of inaruirfr. 

But, whenever manure i» required, 
the facilities of obtaining the materials 
for it are, in every part of the Penia- 
sula, exceedingly great. The marshes 
along the sea-coast, aud the extensive 
savaunas of the interior present thou- 
sands of acres of the most luxuriant 
gras.s, which only requires to be mown 
and carted in, either to be used as ma- 
nure, or to be converted into a compost. 
Besides this, marl ot the richest kind 
is to be found iu nearly every part of 
the Peninsula. 

As regards timber it can be asserted 
with contidence, that there is no other 
State iu the Union, over which valua- 
ble timber is so extensively and «o tini- 
formerly distributed as over the whole 
State of Florida. With the exception 
of the Everglades, there cannot be found 
in any part of .this extensive State an 
area of ten miles square that is not 
covered with valuable timber. The 
best species of yellow pine is every- 
where at liand, and the hammocks, 
with which the ^tate is so regularly 
interspersed, abound in live oak, hick- 
or}', sweet gum, red cedar, red bay, 
v.'iid cherry, magnolia, mulberry, and 
various other species of valuable tim- 
ber, all of which grows to a very largo 
'size, and may be found in the same 
hammock. The most remarkable charac- 
teristic of the Florida hammocks is the 
great variety of its timber. It is not 
uncommon to find all the difterent spe- 
cies of timber above enumerated on a 
single acre of hammock land. Ham- 
mocks, according to my observatiou, 
are no where to be found in the United 
States, except in Florida ; and I doubt 
very much if precisely the same descrip- 
tion of land is to be found in any other 
part of the world. 

The first rate swamp and low ham- 
mock lands are covered with cypress of 
enormous size, and rod ccJar, 6\\af* 



1! 



s,'uin and cabbai^'c trees,ut' hu'go growth, 
also abound in Lheni. 

The Florida Keys in the extreme 
South of the Peniusula, produce raa- 
liogony, lignum vitsc, rose-wood, ebony, 
and various oiher species of valuable 
hard woods. In short, there is no 
other State in the Union that can com- 
pare with Florida in the value, in the 
variety, and the universal distribution 
of its timber. 

As respects water there are few 
countries in any part of the'' world, 
through which so ample a supply of 
good and wholesome water is distribu- 
ted as through the State of Florida. — 
The very large number of rivers, creeks 
and lakes which may be seen so regu- 
larly distributed over the map of the 
country, aftbrd of themselves sufficient 
evidence that there can be no scarcity 
of water ; and uo one. who has' traveled 
much through that country will deny 
that the quality of the water which is 
found ia the lakes, rivers and creeks of 
the country is generally good. 

Having now made what I believe 
to be a faithful sketch of the land, tim- 
ber and water of Florida, I shall next 
proceed to the the consideration of the 
lands, timber and water of Texas. 

The quantity of rich lands in Texas 
is very great ; for the State ^ is a very 
large one, and it possesses, probably, as 
large a proportion of fertile lands as 
any other State iu the Union. The 
alluvial lands, on the water courses of 
Texas are not surpassed in depth of 
soil and in fertility by any lands on this 
continent. Her extensive prairies and 
her "muskite" lands are also, with but 
few exceptions, extremely rich. With- 
out entering into a detailed description 
of those lands, it will be enough to 
state that immigrants into Texas will 
find but little difliculty in procuring 
l^nds of the richest and most durable 
quality, at very moderate prices. In- 



deed, if the licli and cheaj.) land-, [rrc- 
sent, preponderated over all other con- 
siderations, with emigrants, Texas 
would command a preference over 
every other new State. But as abun- 
dance of rich and dui'able lands can be 
procured in Florida, and in other new 
States, on such moderate terms as bring 
them within the reach of nearly every 
emigrant, tlie important question to be 
determined is, whicli country ]>resents 
to the emigrant, besides rich and cheap 
lands, the greatest amount of other ad- 
vantages 1 When fairly estimated by 
this test, it will be clearly seen that the 
inducements which the rich and cheay) 
lands of Texas offer to the emigrant, 
fall very far short of these which the 
rich and cheap lands of Florida present. 

I have already shown, that iu ])oint 
of climate, which is a paramount con- 
sideration, the advantages are altogether 
on the side of Florida. The same is 
true as regards timber and water ; ob- 
jects which next to climate, are of the 
most serious consideration to emigrants. 
While the fact is indisputable that 
Florida is the best timbered State in 
the Union, it is equally certain that 
Texas is one of the worst. Texas is a 
prairie State, and with the exceptions 
of some post-oaks, (a stunted and infe- 
rior species of oak,) which covers some 
districts in the Eastern portion of the 
State, a few very limited pine districts, 
some narrow strips of large timber ou 
the banks of the rivers, and the small 
bush like-trees which grow on the nius- 
' taine lands, there is nothing wdjich re- 
i sembles timber in any portion of Texas 
I between the Sabine and Rio Grande. 
j This it must be admitted, foi'n:js a se- 
I rious drawback to the rich and cheap 
I lands of Texas, and adds greatly to 
' their price too, when every uin© [)iank 
I has to be impoilcd from Florida and 
, Alabama. 

This frrdftt scav'.'itY i34" ti;i:bcr in Texas 



14 



i* only orfualled by the ^^rcat scarcity j bines tlie ftssential rc-jui.sito^ of good 
of watfr, GspaclHlly durino;' the stun- land, good water, good timber and 
mcr months. Cattle in Texas often good liealth. In the prairie districts 



perish for want of water, and not un- 
tre([iientl y they are necessiated to travel 
fifty miles before they can reach it 



the lands are rich, but timber and water 
are very scarce, if not entirely absent. 
In the river bottoms the lands are 



In the prairie lands of Texas, (which ! very rich, and the timber good and 
form about nine-tenths of the State) i abundant, but overflows are" frequent 



water can only be found by digging- 
wells some seventy feet deep. 

What a contrast Texas fbrms in this 
respect viith Florida. Although the 
State of Florida is about four hundred 
miles long, and about one lumdred and 
forty miles wide, there is no extent that 
is so far as thirty miles distant from 
steamboats or keel navigation. Be- 
sides the ample supply of water which 
the numerous rivers, creeks, and small 
running streams attbrd, the State of 
of Florida abounds in beautiful fresh 
water lakes, in natural wells and never 
failing springs. 

Scarcity of timber and scarcity of 
water form two very serious and in- 
v<nrmountable objections to Texas, as 
they render her rich lands, to a great 
extent tinavailable. Indeed it is diffi- 
cult to find anywhere in Texas, except 
on the banks or in the vicinity of her 
I'ivers, good land which combines the 
indispensable requisites of timber ancft 
water. And" when^ it is understood 
that the rivers of Texas nearly every 
year overflow their banks, frequently 
to the extent of several miles, some es- 
timate may be formed to the very 
small propoi'tion even of these lauds that 
can be profitably cultivated by the 
planter. It h scarcely necessary to say 
that these extensive overilows occasion 
severe forms of malarial diseases to 
prevail in the \iciiiity of those rivers, 
so that notwithstanding the great 
amount of rich lands which Texas 
eontaius, it is a most ditficult matter to 
])rocure a plantation anywhere within 
her ox tensive boundary, i^fhich com 



and tlie health and nRvigatiou very 
bad. 

Here, again, the contrasts wliich 
Florida and Texas ])reseuts are very 
striking. The hammocks of Florida, 
on the river banks as well cs elsewhere, 
combine every essential requisite that 
the jilanter can desire. The soil is 
rich and durable, the timber is in great 
variety, very large and far apart, so 
that they are easily cleared, water is 
always couvenientto them if not within 
them ; they are nearly if not quite as 
healthy as pine woods by which thev 
are surrounded, and which otfer a choice 
' of residence. The rivers of Florida are, 
with rare exceptions, all navigable, and 
that too at at all seasons of the year, 
and as they run but very short courses, 
and are not aftected by melting snows, 
they never overflow. 

So it is with the rich pine lands, 
with the "pine, oak and hickory" lands; 
and, in short with every description of 
good lands in Florida. They all com- 
bine good timber, good water, good 
health, and facile means of transporta- 
tion to market, all of which requisites 
are important, if not indispensible to 
to the prosperity and comfort and hap- 
piness of the immigrant, and all of 
which are rarely, if ever found com- 
bined in any portion of the State of 
Texas. 

So far, then, as my discussion of 
Florida and Texas has extended, it is 
apparent that the former State presents 
to the emigrant tlie following advanta- 
ges over the latter, viz : First, a much 
more, salubrious climate. Second, a 



l;"i 



more agrceaLU) eliiiKitc Tbii'il, iimcli 
bettor seasons. Fourth, a luucli greater 
nbnndance, a nuicli ixr^sater variety, and 
a much more g-enefal distribution of 
timber. And, fifth, a much more 
abundant supply, and a more general 
distribution oi' wholesome water. 

r)Ut the important advantages al- 
ready set forth are not the only ones 
■which the State of Floridfi presents to 
the emigrant over Texas. I shall, in 
my next communication, commence 
the productions of these two States, 
and in the discussion it will be seen 
that Florida, in the valuable character 
and great variety of her agricultural 
productions, not only surpasses Texas, 
but far excels every other State in tlie 
Union. 

^'ERDAD. 



NO IV. 



Gainesville, Fia., Ap'l 18, 'GO. 

It is not alone to the great superiori- 
ty of her climate that the richness and 
variety of her soils that Florida will 
owe her future importance. Rich 
lands and healthy climates are to be 
found, to a certain extent, in every 
State in the Union but no other por- 
tion of jthe United Stntes except the 
Peninsular of Florida, can boast of trop- 
ical productions. In this respect, Flori 
da enjoys a vast monopoly over lier 
sister States, which must when fairly 
developed, and superadded to her 
great staples of sugar, cotton, tobacco, 
&c., bestow on her a degree of werJth 
and importance which it would be 
di 111 cult to exaggerate. 

The very high value of tropical over 
other ])roductions may be estimated 
by the fact the exports from the Island 
of Cuba alone, during the year 1841, 
amounted to but a small fraction less 
ilian one-lialfor llio exports of all the 
l.'iiited ^Irvles- f-ii- the ^amc vrar. Il 



must be considcre*.!, too, that thc> 
Island of (.'uba is only partially culti- 
vated. That the Southern portion of 
Florida is well adapted to the culture 
of coffee, sugar, cocoa, indigo, and, in 
short, of all tropical staples and fruits, 
is, I believe, admitted by all who have 
informed themselves on the subject. 

Peter S. Chazotte, who had for spt- 
enteen years been engaged in St. Do- 
mingo and elsewhere, in the cultivatera 
of coftee, cocoa, &c., petitioned Congress 
in 1822, for peamission to purchase 
about twenty -five tliousand acres of 
land in East Florida, at the^Govern- 
ment minimum price, with a view to 
the cultivation of tropical plants. • As 
Mr. Chazotte was a gentleman of 
great intelligence and long practical 
experience as a tropical planter, and 
as he had spent some time in investi- 
gating the capabilities of East Florida, 
I shall here present a few extracts from 
his statement to CongrCvSs respecting 
the productions of that Peninsula. In 
speaking of the production of Cofiee, 
he remarks : 

"In East Florida tht? land is neither 
Loo dry or too wet, nor is the climate 
too hot or too cold. This narrow neck 
of land being washed by the sea on 
the South, East and West possesses all 
the advantages which an island enjoys. 
The sea breezes modify tlie scorciiing 
vertical rays of the sun, and waft awaj' 
the approaching Xorlhern frost. Two 
opposite' opinions have been expressed 
and frequently repeated with respect 
to this cou?itry. Some assert it to be 
a dry, sand land, and others flat mud- 
dy, unformed rising ground. These 
assertions sre altogether unfounded, 
as may be demonstrated by merely re- 
curring to its topography. We see i\ 
neck of land four hundred miles long, 
and about one hundred and thirty 
broad, from the (opposite beaclifs of 
which liie laud ri-'es .^fr-nllr and'grMd- 



16 



»;Jly towards ihe oentie, wTierfe are 
lakes connected with each other from 
South to North, n distance about one 
hundred and tifty miles, without re- 
ceiving any supply of water from any 
large foreign river ; and about forty 
small rivers, whose sources are at from 
tliirty to forty miles distant from both 
shores, and whose waters empty them- 
selves into the opposite sea. Now it 
is impossible for these great sinews of 
nature to exist fn a fiat muddy ground, 
which could at best produce reeds, and 
not the stately trees which luxuriantly 
grow ayd cover its surface. On the 
other hand, if it be called a dry and 
sandy desert, the very existence of 
these lakes and numerous rivers belies 
those assertions ; for rivers and lakes 
arc never found to spring and exist in 
as entirely sandy country ; and such 
is the narrowness of this long neck of 
land, that it must have a deep mould 
and prolific bosom to produce, as it is 
known to do, stately forests of the most 
luxriaut mixture, which are constantly 
in bloom, even'in January and Februa- 
ry, and the most beautiful flowers, 
■n-liose floral appeal ancc made the dis- 
coveries of it award to that country 
the signficant and appropriate name of 
Florida. 

"In all cases the climate is not visi- 
ted by black frost, tlie land either dry 
or wet, will produce coftee, Cayenne, 
lying under the fourth degree of lati 
tude, Nortli of the Eijuator, where the 
heat is intense, no mountains but at 
five hundred miles off", a flat level and 
drowned country, and where, as in 
European Holland, the 'surrounding 
«cas are striving to overwhelm the ris- 
ing earth — even in this_^swampy coun- 
try, diained by ditches as reservoirs for 
the water, the coftee plant grows luxu- 
liantly, even to the size of a palm tree. 

"At Rio .laneiro, the present seat of 
the King of Fojtu''alV American Krn- 



pire, being under the t>ven(y-third dc 
gree of latitude. South of the Equator, 
and as far as the Province of Parana 
or Assumption which reaches the 
thirteenth degree of South latitude, 
the coftee is found to grow. Why then 
should we not cultivate it between the 
twenty-fifty and twenty-seventh degrees 
of North latitude, that is to say in East 
Florida? Will it be said that under 
the twenty-seventh degree of latitude, 
to the south of the Equator, it is hotter 
than under its opposite degree of 
North of it. This will be contradicted 
by those navigators and persons who 
have visited the country. 

"About 17()o, an English gentleman 
of fortune went to establish himself 
in East Florida. His labors were 
croA^ned witli success, both in the cul- 
ture of Coftee and sugarcanes. And 
his establishments were already con- 
siderable, when the American Revolu- 
tion, in its eftects made Florida to pass 
into the hands of Spain. The British 
(Government, finding that this gentle- 
man had so far succeeded, would not 
allow him to remain^ there. They 
carried him oft" with his slaves, and de- 
stroyed everything that he had planted; 
for which loss and damages the British 
(Jovernraent awarded to him a consid- 
erable sum. ]5esides this, travellers 
who have visited the country assert 
that they have seen coftee plants in 
several places, not cultivated for profit 
and revenue, but as a curiosity, the 
intrinsic value of which seems to have 
been unknown to those who planted 
them." 

Mr. William Stork, in his descrip- 
tion of East Florida, gives the following 
account of it : The"productions,of the 
North and Southern latitudes grow 
and blossom by the side of each other, 
and there is scarcely climate in the 
world that can vie with this in display- 
ing such an a'_Teeablo and luxuiianL 



IT 



mixture <>f Iroes, plants, shrubs and 
llowers. The red and white pine and 
the ever-green oak marry their boughs ; 
with the chestnut and mahogony trees, 
the walnut with the cherry, the maple 
with the carapeach, and the haziletto 
with the sassafras tree, which together, 
covers a variegated and rich soil. The 
wax-myrtle tree grows everywhere. — 
Oranges are larger, more aromatic 
and succulent than in Portugal. Plums 
naturally grow fine, and of a quality 
superior to those gathered in the or- 
chards of Spain. The wild vine ser- 
pentine on the ground or climb up to 
the tops of the trees. Indigo and coch- 
ineal were advantageously cultivated 
there, and in the year 1*777 produced 
a revenue of two hundred thousand 
dollars. In fine, I shall add that this 
country will produce all the tropical 
fruits and staples by those belonging to 
a Northern climate." 

The practicability of cultivating 
tropical productions successfully in 
East Florida, is further attested by the 
late Dr. Perrine, oiw former Consul at 
Campeachy, who in a letter to the 
Secretary of the Treasilry, makes the 
following observations : 

"I wish to show, not merely that the 
cultivation of the tropical staples is 
practicable in our Territory, but that it 
is necessary for home consumption, is 
positively profitable for the foreign 
market, and is highly desirable in 
other respects, to promote the peace 
and happiness of the Union. 

"The practicability of cultivating 
tropical productions in general, I have 
made manifest, with the fact that the 
peculiar climate of tropics extends be- 
yond the astronomical boundary several 
degrees North, into our Peninsula ter- 
ritory ; and that the best plants of the 
tropics are actually flourishing in the 
Southern portion of that Peninsula at 
Cape Florida. I have not only shown 



that below 28 degrees, Soirfhern Flori- 
da, enjoys the dry warm winter, the 
wet refreshing summer, the breeze by 
day from the soa,^ and by night from 
the land, and the trade winds from the 
East, which are common to tropical 
countries in general ; but I have proved 
by its narrow level surface, Southeast- 
wardly, by the hot ocean river running 
Northwestwardly along its Eastern 
shores, and by the greater .steadiness 
of the westwardly wind in those lati- 
tudes, that tropical Florida is even 
superior to the elevated Islands of the 
West Indies and to the broad Penin- 
sula of Yucatan, in that uniformity of 
temperature which is most favorable 
for vegetable growths, animal health 
and physical enjoyments. 

"I have, however, not merely shown 
that in this superior climate of the 
tropics are already growing variou.s 
common vegetables of the tropics, but 
I have further announced the flousish- 
iug condition of the tenderest and most 
productive plants of the torrid zone — 
the banana plant and the cx)coa palm 
— which are universally pronounced to 
be the greatest blessings of Providence 
to man. And it may hence be consid- 
ered experimentally demonstrated that 
it is practicable to cultivate all the 
tropical productions in the soil of the 
Southern portion of the Peninsula of 
East Florida. 

It is quite unnessary to adduce furth- 
er evidence of the tro2">ical character of 
East Florida, as all who may be scept- 
ical on this subject can be readily con- 
vinced by a visit to the Southern! por- 
tion of the Peninsula, where they can 
see the coaco tree, the banana, the 
plantain, the pine-apple, the orange, 
the lemon, the lime, arrowroot, the 
guava, &c., growing as luxuariantly 
as they do in any of the West India 
Islands. There is certainly no portion 
of the United States — North, South, 



18 



East or West — that compare with 
East Fk)rida in the variety and value 
of its agricultural productions. It pro- 
duces well all the root and grain crops 
of the Northern States, and all the 
great staples of the Southern States, in 
addition to the still more valuable pro- 
ductions which belong exclusively to 
tropical latitudes. 

It is owing to the latter productions 
that even the inferior lands, in that 
Peninsula, can be rendered much more 
valuable than the best lands in any 
other portion of the United States. — 
Oranges, lemons, pine-apples, cocoa- 
nuts, and various other tropical fruits, 
•will yield an average profit of at least 
one thousand dollars per acre, per an- 
num. Sisal Hemp, it is said by the 
best informed, will pay two thousand 
dollars to the acre. Indeed it would 
l>e tedious, to discuss the great variety 
of tropical fruits and staples, the culti- 
vation of which would render the com- 
mon "pine lands of East Florida far 
more valuable than the best agricultu- 
ral lands in any other portion of the 
United States. 

In my next communication I shall 
discuss still farther the productions of 
Florida. 

VERDAD. 



NO. V. 



Gainesville, Fla. Ap'l 30, '60, 
In my last communication I ad- 
duced evidence to prove that all the trop- 
ical pcoductioDSwhiQh grow in the West 
India Islands can be successfully cul- 
tivated in the Penineula of Florida, 
and that Florida enjoys, in this wide 
range of valuable productions, a vast 
monopoly over her sister States. 

Besides this monopoly of produc- 
tions, there is another very important 
staple — Sen Island and Long Staple 
Cotton — which can be cultivated to a 
greater extent and more profitably in 



the Peninsula of Florida, than- in any 
other Southern State, or indeed, than 
in any other part of the world. It is 
now established by extensive practical 
proof that this valuable staple can be 
produced in greater perfection, even 
in the very centre of the Peninsula. 

This fact, is, no doubt, attributablo 
to the almost insulai- position of East 
Florida. The importance v»hich tbo 
production of this valuable staple must 
give to Florida^ will be duly estimated 
when it is considered that there are 
many millions of acres in that State 
that will yield it in luxuriant crops, 
and that it can be cultivated there 
without the fear of serious competi- 
tion. 

The small islands on the coast of 
South Carolina and Georgia, to which 
the production of this staple has been 
so long confined, are now so nearly 
worn out that the average product, 
per acre, does not exceed one hundred 
and twenty pounds (which ia less than 
half of the average amount which the 
good lands of the Peninsula will yield, 
without manure,) and there is no 
other portion of the United States, 
with the exception of East Florida, 
where this cotton can be produced as 
a staple. 

Numefeus attemps have been made 
within the last fifteen years, to culti- 
vate Sea Island Cotton on the coast 
of Texas, but without success. Al- 
though the Sea Island Cotton of a 
good texture, can bo produced on 
some of the Islands along the coast of 
Texas, the very frequent occurrence of 
violent gales, and other casualties, 
have always prevented it, and always 
will prevent it from becoming a staplo 
of that State. 

The great efforts which the French 
Government made for many years to 
produce this staple in Algeria, havo 
all failed. Neither can it be produced 
in Egypt nor India ; so it i.s more than 



19 



probable that .there is. in no paii ot 
the world, a country of so much ex- 
teut so well adapted, both in climate 
and soil, to the production of this sta- 
ple as East Florida. 

It is not more than fifteen years since 
Florida may be said to have commenc- 
ed the cultivation of Long Cotton, and 
yet the the quantity annually produced 
there already amounts to about one 
third of the united crops of South Car- 
olina and Georgia. It is true that 
the average quality of Florida Cotton 
is not rated so high as that of the Sea 
Island ; but the difference in this re- 
spect is chiefly, if not entirely, attribu- 
table to the defective manner of pre- 
paring the former for market. It is 
a notorious fact that some of the Flori- 
da Cotton has commanded the highest 
market price of the Long Staple Cot- 
tons, and itj therefore a fair inference 
that it isjowing more to a deficiency of 
skill, or of care in its preparaticn for 
market, than to an inferiority of tex- 
ture, that the Long Cottons of Florida 
are rated lower than the Sea Islands. 
When the Florida Planter finds that 
he can make an average crop of three 
hundred pounds of this Cotton to the 
acre, he is not likely to bestow as 
much care on its preparation for mar- 
ket as the planter will on the Sea 
Islands, where one hundred and twen- 
ty pounds is a good average crop. It 
is in the quantity, rather than in the 
quality, that the Florida planter finds 
his besit remuneration. 

But even should it prove true that 
the Long (Jotton of Florida is in tex- 
ture somewhat inferior to that of the 
Sea Islands, this fact will detract but 
little from the vast wealth which this 
valuable staple is going to bestow 
upon Florida. There are many rail- 
lions of acres in the Peninsula, that 
w<ill yield from two to four hundred 
pounds of this Cotton per acre, and 



as the demand fur this species of Uot^ 
ton is steadily on the increase, and 
will, soon as sufficient |raachinery shall 
have been adapted to its manufacture, 
call for an immense supply, it is evi- 
dent that if Florida possessed no other 
staple than the Long Cotton, this val- 
uable product would, of itself, make 
her a very rich State. , 

Should the time arrive, (and that 
it will arrive at no distant day is 
probable) that the production of at 
least two million of bales of Long Cot- 
ton will bo required to meet the an- 
nual consumption of this staple 
throughoub the world, it will be to 
East Florida that the world must 
look for the production of this large 
supply — and even should a much larger 
supply than this be required, the Long 
Staple Cotton lands ot the Peninsula 
will be sufficient to meet the demand. 

The value of two millions of bales 
of Long Staple Cotton, allowing 350 
pounds to a bale, and 25 cents per 
pound as the price, (this is a low av- 
erage even for the inferior grades,) 
would be one hundred and seventy-five 
millions of dollars — an export about 
equal to the present total annual ex- 
ports of the United States. 

This is an immense sum to set 
down as the probable export resulting 
from a single staple, and produced by 
a single State. But if there be any 
fallacy in calculation that fallacy will 
not be found in the capacity of Florida 
to produce the amount of Long Staple 
Cotton above stated, Florida contains, 
at least, four millions of acres of good 
Long Staple Cotton lands ; and if we 
allow two hundred pounds as the av- 
erage product per acre, which is not 
more then half what her best lauds 
will produce, we shall have more than 
two millions of bales ; and as there is, 
as I have already stated, no country 
at present known, that is likely to 



20 



compete ^itli her in the extensive pro- 
duct of this staple, it follows that if 
there be any fallacy in the above cal- 
culation it must be found in the large 
estimate which I huve made of what 
will probably be the future consump- 
tion of Long Staple Cotton. It is of 
course impossible to make a positive 
estimate of this. I may have overra- 
ted, and I may have underrated the 
true amount. In stating the two mil- 
lions of bales as the probable quantity, 
I based this assumption on the follow- 
ing facts : 

The demand for American Short 
Staple Cotton has increased within a 
few year? from one million to four and 
a half millions of bales, and the de- 
mand is steadily increasing. Fifteen 
years ago the Sea -Islands of South 
Carolina and Georgia supplied the en- 
tire demand ; but now we find that in 
addition to this, the market for this 
staple requires the whole of the Flori- 
. da crop, which increases extensively 
every year. 

It is well known that the machinery 
required for the manufacture of Long 
Cotton is very different from that em- 
ployed in the manufacture of Short 
Cotton, and the capacity of the Sea 
Islands for the production of Long 
Cotton was necessarily very limited, 
so was the construction of machinery 
for its manufacture proportionately re- 
stricted. But now that the manufac- 
turers have assurance that there can 
be un unlimited supply of this staple 
produced in Florida, they have already 
began to adapt machinery on an ex 
tensive bcale, to suit its manufacture. 
And as this Cotton is preferable to 
the common Cotton in the manufac- 
ture of all fine fabrics, and eipecially 
in such as are composed in part of 
silk, it is but reasonable to infer that 
as soon as sufficient machinery eliall 
Ikave been constructed, thai'e wil! bo a 



great and steady increa.^e in the con* 
sumption of this material. 

These considerations when added 
to the vast progress which the world 
is stilled destined to make in material 
wealth and luxury, the new and exten- 
sive fields of commerce recently open- 
ed in the East, and others yet to be 
opened, lead me to believe that I am 
not extra^gant in my estimate yphen 
I assume that at no very distant day, 
two millions of bales of the best spe- 
cies of Cotton will be required to 
meets the world's demands. But even 
should I reduce my estimate one-half, 
it would still leave Florida with a fu- 
ture export of some eighty millions of 
dollars annually (more than that of 
the "Golden State" of California) de- 
rived from but one of her numerous 
staples. 

Besides Long and Short Staple 
Cottons, Sugar, Cuba Tobacco, Indigo, 
Rice, Cochineal, Silk, Sisal Hempj 
New Zealand Flax, Arrowroot, 
Ovanges, Lemons, Limes, Pine Ap- 
ples, Olives, Grapes, Guaves, and 
j^ther fruits and staples too numerous 
too detail, East Florida produces 
Corn, Potatoes, Turnips, Cabbages, 
and, in short, all the vegetables that 
are known in the Northern States. 

The climate of Florida does not 
allow Corn to be planted so close as 
in the Northern States, and there are 
not therefore, so many bushels pro- 
duced to the acre. The good lands in 
the interior ordinarily produce from 
thirty to forty bushels per acre, with- 
out the aid of manure of any kind, 
and it is doubtful whether the best 
Corn lands in the State of New York 
would produce more under similar cul- 
ture. Much more might be accom- 
plished by the people of Florida with 
I the aid of manure, rotation of crops, 
I and judicious culture, and it is to be 
'hoped that tbey will resorts to iY ..^ 



21 



their lands from deterioration. 

With re£;ard to roots it requires 
the whole of their Summer in the 
Northern and Middle States to pro- 
duce a single crop. In Florida, on 
the contrary, a crop of Irish potatos 



expedients to preserve the fertility of ; thing that grows upon vines, comes 
■ ■ ' ' ' ' ■ ■ ■ to great perfection in East Florida. 

Everyone knows that in the North, 
tenacious clayey soils bake or consoli- 
date, from the drying effects of a Sum- 
mer's sun, or the beating of heavy 
Winter rains to such a degree as to 
and a crop of sweet potatos or yams, j constitute the principal annual labor 
can with great facility, be produced | of the cultivator to restore them to a 
on the liume land within the year. If 
Florida cannot rival the North in the 
amount of the production of Irish po- 
tatos in a single crop, she accomplishes I the State contain an intermixture of a 
at least as much by producing two large proport'on of organic matter in 
crops within the year on the same a state of decomposition, which with a 
land — one crop being planted in Jan- due proportion of very fine sand, im- 
uary and the other in July. But ad- i parts to them a porous character, not 
mittiug that Florida is inferior to the very susceptible of induration or ag- 
North in the production of Irish po- | glatination. Indeed, so easily is land 



fine tilth again fur the reception of 
seed. This never occurs in Florida, 
principally the most clayey soils in 



tatos, she has yet the sweet potato or 
yam (a more valuable root.) which or 
dinarily produces as much per acre as 
the Irish potato yields in the North. 

There is no climate in the world, 
soils and climate better adapted to 
the production of turnips and rutaba- 
gas than those of Florida. It is com- 
mon to see turnips of eight pounds 
weight growing in what would appear 
to be poor sandy soil, and I have my- 
self seen turnips that weighed four- 
teen pounds each, and heads of cab 
bage which weighed twenty-eight 
pounds each, produced in a sandy soil 
near St. Augustine. East Florida 
certainly surpasses the North in the 
production of turnips and rutabagas, 
both as to the amount per acre and 
the quality of the roots. 

With very little care and attention 
East Florida enjoys every delicacy of 
vegetable culture at all seasons of the 
year. Beets, onions, egg-plants, car- 
rots, lettuce, celery, cauli-tiowers, &c., 
of superior size and quality, are pro- 
duced with the most indidiffereat cul- 
ture. Watermelons, canteloups, pump- 
.kjus, cucumbers, and in short, every- 



in Florida annually reduced to the 
finest tilthj that it is not an unusual 
thing for such as will produce three 
hogsheads of sugar to the acre, to be 
broken up by a single horse and plow, 
to the depth of six inches or more. — 
This is therefore, an important advan- 
tage enjoyed by Florida land in its 
preparation and culture over most of 
the lands in Texas, and in nearly all 
the other States — ajid it leads to the 
inevicable conclusion that less labor is 
requisite in Florida to produce similar 
crops, than is indlspcnsibly necessary 
in nearly every other State in the 
Union ; for it will readily be perceiv- 
ed that the same cause that saves la- 
bor in the preparation of the soil, also 
saves labor iu its culture. There is 
no description of soil in Florida which 
requires more than one ploughing to 
prepare it fully for the reception of 
any crop which it produces ; and but 
few crops receive but one ploughiHg 
in their culture. Many crops of Cora 
iu Alachua county, from thirty to 
forty bushels per acre, hav« becu 
made with a single hoeing and tbiBMing, 
and a single ploughing subso<jueutly. 



22 



Sweet potatos art always maile with 
a single ploughing and a few pickings 
over, to free them from weeds, &c. — • 
Tumipis, rutabagas, sugar-beets, &c., if 
gown 08 they should be, in August 
and September, require no subsequent 
ctiltuue to produce as large crops of 
citlier of them, as can be grown in 
New York or Pennsylvania. Even 
Sugar^ Cotton and Tobacco receive9 
less labor in the preparation of the 
aoil for their reception, and much 
1«S6 after culture than is given to a 
crop in New York. There can, in 
short, be no doubt of the fact that 
similar crops require much less labor 
for their production in Florida, than 
is generally demanded iii nearly every 
other Shite in the Union. 

The general topography of Florida 
mdiy be characterized os that of a low 
country ; so thatlthe surface, in most of 
the level pine lands, is placed within 
the reach of a constant supply of 
moisture, derived from the sub-soil by 
solar influence. Tiiis, together with 
the heavy dews which generally pre- 
vail, accounts for the luxuriant cover- 
ing of grass and constant verdure 
which the whole face of the country 
pres€nts. even in the dry seasons. 

A large proportion of a Northern 
farm is necessarily appropriated to the 
production of hay to sustain the stock 
during the dreary winter of half a 
years duration. This is entirely un- 
necessary in East Florida, when pe- 
rennial pastures, suiBcicut to feed any 
number of cattle or horses, exist natu- 
rally, or may be formed artilicially 
witii but little labor, by making the 
necessary enclosure ; and where the 
winters are so mild that there is never 
any necessity for housing stock. — • 
St-ock rearing hns proved to be a very 
profitable business in Florida. In- 
deed, it would be strange if it had 
jayt, when we consider tuat there is in 



that State an nnlimlted extent of fine 
natural pasturage the whole year 
round, that cattle are never housed 
there, and that herding them and ex- 
porting theio to market are the only 
expense attending them. 

In most parts of Florida hogs thrive 
well, and fatten without any other 
support than that which they derive 
from the abundant roots and mast of 
the country. 

There is certainly no portion of the 
United btates where game and fish 
are so abundant as in East Florida. 
The fact that a large body of Indians 
supported themselves well and re- 
mained fat for the space of seven 
years, while hunted themselves by a 
large enemy, is some evidence in proof 
of this assertion. It was common be- 
fore the war, for a good hunter to kill 
seven deer of a day and thousands of 
these animals were slaughtered mere- 
ly for their skins. The country 
abounds in turkeys, partridges, geese, 
ducks, curlews and various other spe- 
cies of small gnme. 

The coast of Florida, to the extent 
of at least six hundred miles, abounds 
in the finest fish. Pompino, sheeps- 
head, grouper, red-fish, king-fish, Span- 
ish mackerel, green turtle, mullet, etc , 
are to be found tn exhaustible quanti- 
ties at almost every point, both on 
the Eastern and Western coast. Oys- 
ters, which are not surpassed, equalled 
in size and flavor by any in the world, 
are to be found in almost every cove, 
and the numerous lakes, rivers and 
creeks of the interior teem with deli- 
cious fresh-water fish, such as trout, 
bass and soft shell turtle. 

But these are objects of minor con- 
sideration which serve to convey but 
a feeble idea of the iniportance which 
its geographical position, its climate 
and ita soils, give in Florida. The 
vast amount of rice and durable laud 



23 



in the Poiunsula which is capable of 
producing Sugar Cane, Sea Island 
and Short Staple Cottons, Cuba To- 
bacco and the nunaerous and very val- 
uable tropical productions, (all objects 
of human consumption, of the utnioat 
importance, not only to the consumer 
but to the whole country.) and its fine 
adaptation of climate to these success- 
ful productions, must form the basis of 
a degree of prosperity far surpassing 
that enjoyed bv any of the States. 
YEKDAD. 



NO. Vt. 

Gainesville, Fla., May 7, '60. 

There are numerous tropical protluc- 
tions by the cultivation of any one of 
which, a poor man of intelligence, en- 
terprise and industry, can, in East 
Florida, make himself independent in 
a few yoarp. To fully discuss these 
various productions would require a 
very extended space, and I shall there- 
fore confine myself to a few remarks on 
the orange. 

The great advantages to be derived 
from the culture of the orange, the 
lemon and the lime in East Florida, 
is a subject little known or apprecia- 
ted out of the State. It presents a 
field for profitable enterprise unequalled 
in the United States, There is no cul- 
ture in the world by which the founda- 
tion of an independent income can be 
laid at the expense of so small an ont- 
lay, as by that of the orange and lemon 
in East Florida. 

The method of establishing groves, 
by transplanting the sour orange trees 
from the hammocks where they abound 
in the wild state, and which has been 
so successfully practised for several 
years, is'of great iuipoitance ; in the 
first place, because it does away with 
the difficulty and expense of procuring 
sweet trees, and in the second place, 



because tlie sour trees planted and bud- 
do<.l, will bear sooner than sweet trees 
from a nursery. 

The sour trees may be dug up, CAro- 
fuUy, in the hammock, at any time 
from October till June. They should 
bo topped about four feet from the 
ground, and carefully planted and 
watered. In about three month_§, 
shoots, large enough to be budded, will' 
grow out. The buds are taken from 
sweet trees and carefully inserted into 
the young ti-ees, just as peach tre<?8 
are budded at the North. It is com- 
mon for treea to bear the sweot orange, 
in eighteen months from the budding. 
If the sour trees be selected from thoi 
hammock, of good size, (and they can 
be found of all sizes) iti three yoors 
they will be competent to bear a thou^ 
sand oranges each, and will go on in- 
creasing in size and production. Some 
of the large old trees in St. Augustine 
bore as many as eight thousand an- 
nually. 

This culture is well adapted to per- 
sons of small capital, whose health re- 
quire a residence in Florida. A suita- 
ble piece of land is easily obtained on 
which provisions can be raised, and an 
extensive grove established at a very 
moderate expense. But to farmers and 
planters this culture presents also ad- 
vantages over those of any other Sourii- 
ern State ; for, without interfering at 
all with their agricultural operations, 
they can gradually, and without tho ^' 
outlay of a dollar, plant an orange 
grove that may ultimately yield a 
larger income than all their other prc- 
ductions. I have seen myself a small 
grove, on the St. Johns River occupy- 
ing less than an acre, the anniml in- 
come from which was a thousand dol- 
lars. One very great advantage in the 
cultivation of oranges is, that the fruit 
may bo preserved for several months 
on the trees after it lias reached ma- 



24 



turity and be all disposed of k-isuily, 
without the Iosb of a single orange. 

The great longevity of the orange 
tree is another that invests it with a 
more permanent character than com-. 
mon fruit trees. It lives and flourishes 
to a very advanced age. There are 
orange trees now living' in the Oity of 
]{orae, that are known to be three hun- 
dred years old ! 80 that an orange 
when once established, will not only 
last a man's life time, in progressive 
improvement, but become a valuable 
inheritance to his descendants for many 
generations. 

The oranges of Florida have been 
always celebrated for their superior 
quality. There are certain tropical 
ptoductians, and the orange is one of 
them, which comes to a greater perfec- 
tion, a degree outside of the tropic 
than within it. It is from this cause 
that the oranges of Florida are much 
more aromatic and succulent than 
those of Cuba. 

The orange tree in Florida, as well 
as in Cuba, and many other countries, 
has been for some eighteen years, seri- 
ously aftected by an insect [Coccus 
Hesperiduni) which, on its first incur- 
sion destjroyed whole groves, and when 
it did not kill the trees, it debiliated 
them so much as to prevent them 
from bearing fruit. Although this in- 
sect is still present in many of the 
orange groves of Florida, it seems of 
late years to have become much less 
mischievous in its effects. Whether 
this fortunate change is to be attribu- 
ted to a decay of power in the insect, 
or to the means of resisting it which 
have been generally adopted, I am una- 
ble to decide. Certain it is, however, 
that trees which grow in very rich 
soil, or which are strongly manured, 
are scarcely, if at all affected by it ; 
and groves which were formerly rav* 
'Ag<'([ by it to :i great extent, and vhich 



had ceased to produce fruit now flou- 
rish, and bear large crops. The infer- 
ence is, that wh:n the tree is vigorous 
it is capable of sustaining both the in- 
sect and the fruit. 

ITad it not been for this discourage- 
ment which the ravages of this vegeta- 
ble epidemic gave to the orange plan- 
ters of Florida, and the fear of Indian 
incursions in the Southern portion of 
the Peninsula, there would be long h?- 
fore this, a very extensive cultivation 
of this fruit in East Florida, and espe- 
cially in the Southern portion of it, 
where the trees are entirely beyond the 
reach of frost. Now that the insect is 
no longer formidable, and the Southern 
portion of the Peninsula is perfectly 
secure against all future danger from 
Indians, the orange •will doubtless be 
cultivated on an extensive scale in 
Florida, as there is no limit to the 
number of new markets which the ex- 
tensive construction of railroads has 
opened within a few years to this and 
to other tropical fruits, 

Cuba oranges, which are generally 
very inferior to those of Florida, usu- 
ally sell, Avholesale, in CharKiston, 
Savannah and other Atlantic seaports, 
at the average price of fifteen dollars 
a thousand, and sell by retail, at four 
and five cents a piece. If Florida 
oranges can be sold at only ten dollars 
a thousand, (one-third less than the 
price of inferior oranges,) a grove of 
moderate dimensions, and one which 
would require but about eight hands to 
keep it in perfect order, will yield an 
income far greater than a prosperous 
sugar plantation, worked by one hun- 
dred hands. Sugar planting even in 
Florida, will not, on the average, yield 
more than four hundred dollars to the 
hand ; which for one hundred hands 
would be forty thousand dollars. — 
Let us now see what an orange grove 
of four thousand trees will yield. The 



25 



nver:ig<i iminhcr of ornnjjes prcKluced 
bv a treo in full bearing is at least two 
thouBunfl. which at least ten dollars a 
thousand, is twentj' dollars a tree. At 
twenty dollars r tree, the product of 
four thousand trees would amount to 
the sum of eiiifhty thousand dollars, 
which is the amount produced by eight 
hands, on about fifty acres of land, in 
the culture of oranges and just double 
the amount produced by one hundred 
hands on four hundred acres of land 
in that of sugar cane. 

It requires no extraordinary enter- 
prise, and but a moderate capital to 
•t»tnbHsh an orange grove in Florida 
that will contain at least four thousand 
trees, and when the very large income 
which such a grove would yield, and 
♦ he small amount of labor and little 
rare required in its cultivation and 



fectjon M) Moridn, nnd thntro-*^ )vk*«fM« 
much more rigor niid much gretil«T 
Inngevity than in the Mid<lle State*. — 
The fruit ripens some two uionlh* 
earlier than in New Jersey, and its ex- 
port to New York, now that direct 
steamboat navigation is about bein<f 
established between Fernandina and 
that city, will doubtless, become tt 
profitable business, owing to the very 
earl"y period at which the Northern 
market can be supplied with them. 

Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah 
have, for some years, made the trans- 
portation of early vegetables to th<» 
New York market an extensive and 
very profitable trade. It is Kcnr(NjIy 
necessary to remark that Florida will 
have a greater adv.^ntage over evory 
other portion of the South in tliis 
branch of business, as she will be abU 



management are considered, it cannot to send to the Northern market gre<5H 
be doubted that as soon as the extraor- peas and tomatoes in December and 



dinary advantages of this culture be 
come generally known, a multitude of 
enterprising men will engage in it. 

I shall hore close my remarks on the 
rulture of the orange, having, I trust, 
said enough on the subject to call at- 
tion to the tempting field which offers 
to enterprise, and indeed, to all who 
desire to derive an ample income from 



January, green corn and strawberri*'* 
in March, and all other vegetables and 
fruits, long before they can be suj)- 
plied either by Charleston or Savan- 
nah. 

This is a business that requires bat 
Ivttle capital, and one cannot fail to 
yield, with ordinary skill and industry 
a large profit. Lands of the best do- 



i small capital ; and this with but little j scription for gardening purposes can 
lai)or and care, and with delightful I Qow be procured at Tery modernt* 
find healthy occupation. In tho cal- ' P"^-cs along the line of the "Florida, 
<ulationR ] have here made, I certainly i 'Railroad," which has its Eastern termi- 
liave exaggerated nothing; on the con- | vus at Fernandina. From Forunndinji 
trary, I have very much underrated, j ^arly fruits and vegetiibles can Ixs 
one-third, the wholesale price at which pr^nsported direct to New York in 
Florida Oranges will be always sure to about fifty hours. Indeed, it is proba- 
sell, and al.so the average number of ' hie that fortunes can be made by tho 
this fruit which trees of a large size I culture of early vegetablon and frutts 
will annually bear ; and yet it will be ' 'O Florida, more rapidly and with 
:»pen, at the lowest calculation, that the greater certainty than by either Cottoji 
vulture of oranges in Florida can [or Sugar planting, a.« this is a brwnch 
with but small capital and btit little ^ of indus;ry which Florida can conduct 
i:ibor, be jnade o business of extraordi-| without competion. 
lary profit. ^" addition to the many staples al- 

Tbe peach, also, grows to groat per- 1 ready enumerated. Florida wsstswjwses 



96 



hi her JHexhauscible amount of flno 
timber, a resource of vast value. There 
ift no State in the Union that can equal 
IHyrida in the possession of valuable 
timber. Her forests of the best species 
of pitch and yellow pine are of im- 
mense extent, and .now tliat they are 
becoming extensively , ■ traversed by 
railways will soon, yield a large export 
of lumber. Indeed the few mills in 
operation in Jacksonville, ..Pensacela, 
Cedar Keys, tfec, give already an an- 
nual <^xpoit of more than two millions 
of dollars, and this may be regarded as 
l>ut the commencement of her lumber 
trade. . 

.Besides her pine lumber, there is a 
considerable export already from Flori- 
da of live oak, red cedar, and red bay ; 
and as her hammocks abound in the 
fiiiiest species of white oak for staves, 
and her swamps in the best quality of 
cypress for shingles, these, too, will 
y.ield a valuable expect. 

Florida will surpass every State in 
the Union in the production of Naval 
Stores. Pitch Pine forests of great 
extent, and of the richest quality, 
stretch along the banks of her numer- 
ous navigable rivers, and are now be- 
coming extensively intersected by rail- 
ways. The turpentine planters of 
North Carolina have already begun to 
discover these rich places, and to aban- 
don for them the worn out fields of 
their former industry. The turpentine 
]ilantations of North and South Caro- 
lina have very generally been bled 
nearly to exhaustion, while the virgin 
forests of Florida have as yet been 
scarcely touched. The exhausted lauds 
of North and South Carolina sell at 
comparatively high prices and generally 
less- accessible to market than the rich 
unl)oxod lands of Florida, which .s«>ll at 
very, low ratos. liesidcs these imi)0r- 
tant advantages, the Florida trees have 
a kuiich longer running season thaa- 



those of North and South Qirolina.— ' 
Kosin was sent to the Charleston mar- 
ket early in February, this year, from 
the Florida plantation, which is aboui 
two months earlier than it is generally 
produced in North and South Carolina. 

Several extensive turpentine planta- 
tions have already been established at 
different points along the line of the 
Florida Railroad by North Carolinians, 
and doing a prosperous business. Theso 
plantations, now that the State is bo- 
coming extensively traversed by rail- 
roads, will multiply fast, and yield in 
a short time a very large export of 
Naval Stores. 

The fisheries of Florida are much 
more extensive and valuable than those 
of any other Southern State, and will 
when properly developed and protected,; 
form an important export. 

Having now given a brief sketch of 
the , immense undeveloped resources 
which Florida possesses, in the great 
extent to which she is capable of pro- 
ducing them, I shall in my next lette? 
discuss the productions of Texas. 

YERDAD. 



NO. vn. 



Gainesvillk, 1 la., May 16, '60, 

The Southern portion of Texjis, 
and the Southern portion of Florida, 
are embraced \vithin the same par- 
allels of latitude, and yet the for- 
mer State yields no tropical staples,' 
(with the exception of a partial pro* 
duction of sugar) while the latteifr 
produces well all the fruits and sta;, 
pies of the West India Islands. — 
Even on the Rio Grande, (the most 
Southern portion of Texas) oranges 
cannot be produced, as a staple, 
while, three degrees North of that, 
in Florida, they grow in perfection. 
The productions of Texas then, are 



27 



ooniparatlvcly limited, and can be 
comprised in n few words ; they are 
neither more nor less than those of 
Mississippi and Louisiana, and with 
the exception of sugar precisely the 
earae of Arkansas and Alabama. 
It is unnecessary, therefore, to enter 
into a detailed description of those 
productions, as every body knows 
what Arkansas and Alabama can 
produce. 

The Eastern and Northern por- 
tions of Texas are the only parts of 
the State that are well adapted to 
apriculture. Even in those regions 
the planter has many obstacles to 
encounter ; but the lands being ex- 
tremely rich, when the seasons prove 
favorable, very large crops of Up- 
land Cotton can be made ; and near 
the sea coast. Sugar crops about 
equal to those of Louisiana, that is 
ubout one hogshead to the acre, 
which is not more than half a crop. 
Neither Corn nor Wheat can be pro- 
dnced as profitably in any part of 
Texas, as it can in several of the 
Western and Middle States. 

Western Texag, by which is gen- 
erally understood:that extensive re- 
gion (about one half of the State) 
which lies between the Collorado 
and the Rio Grande, is with* the ex- 
cepition of a few Districts, limited to 
the vicinities of Guadaloupe, the 
Neuces, the San Antonio and a few 
other small rivers, totally unsuited 
to agriculture. A great portion of 
it is barren desert and chapparel, 
and even where the land is rich, 
timber and water are generally 
both absent. 

Besides this, the seasons are such 
as to render profitable planting im- 
practicable. During the productive 



season of the year, there generally 
prevail a persistent drought of many 
months, attended with blustering, 
hot, parching winds, which stunt 
even the timber. The long an(i 
heavy winter rains cause the argUr 
lacious of these prairies to form 
deep mud, of so tenacious acharac: 
ter as to render locomotion extreme^ 
ly difficult for several months in the 
year; and the regular .recurrenoe 
of the summer drought bakes thoso 
lands nearly as hard as brick, so tl^ajt 
it is with great labor and expense 
that they can be reduced to a. prop- 
er tilth. A great portion';;of this 
very extensive region, however, 
afi'ords as fine stock range as any 
in the world ; and it is in stockr 
raising that the inhabitants of this 
large portion of the State will have 
their chief, if not their -on}y;;^'p^ 
source. , (Hnt '. .ln!l 'f,f f 

The resources of Texas, like those 
of all our new States, have been, as 
yet but venjxjpartially developed'-; 
so that it is',>ilS this tiine, impossi-bie 
to calculate wuth even an approxi-r 
mation to accuracy, what the ex.tent 
of her future exports will be. The 
precious metals may yet be discov- 
ered in her mountains, and mineral 
exports of immense amount bo the 
result. But, if we may form ^n 
opinion from what is now ostensible, 
the resources of Texas, extensive as 
she; is. are vastly inferior to tho3G 
of Florida. This assertion will 
doubtless, appear paradoxical to 
those who have heard so much about 
Texas, and so little about Florida. 
But when we consider the immense 
extent of prairie deserts^ and moun- 
tain wastes which Texas contains- 
and then reflect on the small proj 



18 



portion of unavailable lands in 
Florida, wo hiive j^ood reason to in- 
fer thut iho lutter State, notwith- 
standing her inferior dimensions 
poHsesscs a liirge, if not a much 
larger amount of productive acres 
»han the former. But even did she 
not possess more than one fourth 
tts many productive acres, so much 
Hioro valuable are her staple!', that 
the pecuniary amount of her future 
exports must far exceed that of 
T«xas. 

The only products worthy of con- 
liideration which Texas is ever like- 
ly U) export, are Upland Cotton, 
Sugar, Cattle and hides. Florida, 
besides the staples which Texas can 
produce, will export an iramens 
»mount of Long Staple Cotton (prob- 
nbly to the amount of one hundred 
and seventy millions dollars annual 
ly,) Cuba Tobacco, Oranges, Sisal 
Hemp, and in short, all the most 
valuable tropical staples and fruits. 
She will moreover, pxjport timber. 
lumber, and Naval ^'.ores of vast 
amonnt ; and numerous minor ex- 
ports, such as fish, turtle, early 
vegetables and fruitS; &.C., which 
ker fortunate 'geographical position 
•nables her to produce, and trans- 
^rt to market with greater advan- 
llig« than any other State. 

In addition to the numerous ad- 
rantnges already presented, which 
yioriua enjoys over Texas, therejare 
ethers still of greater importance 
to the emigrant, to which I shall 
nov briefly advert. These are, a 
uaperior geographical position, su- 
perior harbors, greater facilities of 
of internal transportation and trav- 
el, and greater security of life and 
jttd^orW. I »hall diseuss each of 



these fopics in the order here stivi 
ted. 

The Geographical ])oxifio7i of 
Florida is not only superior to thnS 
of Texas, buj far preferable to any 
other in the Western Hemisphere. 
It is only necessary to glance at 
the map to see that it occupies the 
most central position of all the 
best markets in the world. It pre- 
sents itself on the Gulf of Mexico by 
numerous harbors, at all sea- 
sons open to the commerce and trav- 
el of the Mississippi Vallev, of Tex- 
as, of Mexico, Ot the Pacific coast. 
On the South and East it is in close 
proximity to the markets of the 
West Indies, and has convenient ac- 
cess to those of our Atlantic States, 
of Europe, and of South America. 
It has more extensive sencoast ami 
a greater numbers of good harbors 
and navigable rivers than any other 
State in the Union, so that the fa- 
cilities of water transportation, both 
external and internal, are not equall- 
ed by any other State. Such is its 
centrality that it lies within thirty 
hours (by steamer) of New Orleans, 
within twenty four hours of Savan- 
nah and Charleston, and within 
forty eight hours of Ne^ York. In 
addition to all this, the position of 
the Peninsula is such as to confer 
on it a most delightful and salubri- 
ous climate, for, although situated 
near the tropic, it is so tempered 
by the Northeast trade winds and 
by the sea breezes of the Atlantic 
and Gulf that a most agreeable 
temperature is maintained through 
the year. 

The Geographical position of 
Texas is in all respects very infe- 
rioT to that of Florida. The State 



29 



of Texas lies rcraoto from all the 
best niHikets ; its sen coast is inucli 
less extensive than tiiat of Florida ; 
its harbors are much fewer and very 
inferior, .and its inland navii^ation 
not nearly so extensive. Besides 
its whole. coast, as well as the State 
itself, is regularly Bconrged by 
"Northers." »So great is the advan- 
tage which the geographical posi- 
tion of Floritia possesses over that 
of Texas, in pointof sea transporta- 
tion, that a cargo of Cotton shipped 
from Fern.indina will frequently 
arrive in Liverpool, before one 
phipped from Gnlvest(m,at the same 
titne, and to the same port, will 
Inive passed through the straits of 
Florida, and under much higher in- 
butances. 

The facts that produce must al- 
ways be transported to market from 
Texas at much greater expense, and 
with much gret ter delay than from 
Florida, and that merchandise im- 
ported from Europe, and from the 
Atlantic States must for the same 
reason cost much more in Texas 
than in Florida, are worthy of seri- 
ous coniideration ; as they detract 
very much from the earnings both 
of producer! and coneuraers in Tex- 
as, and should, all other things be- 
ing equal to determine the emi- 
grant's choice in favor of Florida. 

7'Ae Harbors of Florida are rery 
numerous, and many of them very 
good ones. She possesses twenty- 
eix. Three of those harbors Pen- 
eacola, Tampa Bay, and Fernandi- 
iia, have from twenty to twenty- 
three feet at hi^h water on their 
bars* (Jharlotte Harbor has eighteen 
feet, Gedsr Keys twelve feet, the " 
St. John's Bar eleven feet, and most 



of the others not less than seren 
feet. Key West can bo entered ai 
all times with more than thirty fe«t. 

The Harbors of Texas are very 
few, and very inferior. She pos- 
sesses but six that deserves tho 
name, ami the best of them is Gal- 
veston, wliich has not more than 
twelve feet at high water on its bar. 

The great facilities which Florida 
affords for the internal transporta- 
tion of her produce is not the least 
of her advuntages over Texas, — 
There ia certainly no country in th<i 
United States that can compare 
with her in this respect. Tho 
length of the Peninsula is about 
four hundred miles, and its breadth 
at the widest part is one hundred 
and fifty so that its most remote 
point cannot be more than seventy- 
five from the sea. This narrow 
neck is intersected, at an average 
distance ot less than thirty miles 
apart, by navigable rivers, which 
have their sources near the centre, 
and which empty themselves on the 
West into the Gulf of Mexico, and 
on the East into the Atlantic Ocean 
and into the St. John's Uiver, 
which runs for some two hundrecl 
miles, paralel to the Eastern coasi, 
and which is itself navigable for 
sailing vessels, more than a hun- 
dred miles, and for steamboats to 
the extent of at least two hundred 
and fifty miles. 

Besides the numerous short*rir- 
ers which take Easterly and West- 
erly courses from the centre of the 
Peninsula, there are others of con- 
siderable magnitude, which traverse 
it in a Northcrnly and Southernly 
direction. Of these the St. John's, 
already mentioned, is the most iui- 



so 



Jwrtont. The St. John's la 5 rery 
remarkHble river, and oue of won- 
derful magnitude; when we consider 
the very short course (not more 
than two hundred and twenty miles 
in a direct line) which it runs. It 
runs from South to North, at an av- 
erage distance of about twenty miles 
from the coast forming in its course 
a chain of Urge beautiful lakes ; 
and its breadth, for at least one 
hundred miles fi-om its mouth, av- 
erage more than a mile. The wa- 
ter on its bar is about eleven feet 
deep, and the quantity of water in 
its channel (which is quite deep) 
scarcely varies a foot throughout 
the year. This river of about two 
hundred and twenty miles long, 
(even in its windings it is not more 
thnn about three hundred and twen- 
ty miles in length,) contains a vol- 
ume of water at least three times as 
large ns that of the Rio Grande, 
which runs a course of more than a 
thousand miles ! The presumption 
IB, that this vast body of fresh wa- 
ter is chiefly derived from large 
springs ; and this will explain the 
remarkable uniformity of its vol- 
ume throughout the year, and the 
fact that it never overflows its banks. 
I doubt if there be another river in 
Bwy part of the world, of so short a 
eoorse, whoso magnitude is so 
great. 

The Apalftchicola and the Su- 
wannee, arc both large and import- 
ant rivers. The former divides 
West from Middle Florida, and the 
latter Middle from East Florida. 
Each of these rivers is navigable 
for steamboats to the extent of at 
least one hundred and sixty miles. 
There are from fifteen to twenty 



other rivers in Florida, all of whhsh 
are navigable to a greater or less 
extent 

In addition to the numerous riv- 
ers which julrait of steamboat navi 
gation. Florida abounds in creeks, 
by which the produce of the country 
can be transported in keel boats. 
Indeed, so regularly are the rivers 
and creeks distributed through the 
country, that it would be difficult if 
not impossible, to find a point in the 
whole State, so far as thirty miles 
distant from either steamboat or 
keel boat navigation. 

The State is everywhere intersec 
ted by fine roads, for which it is in a 
great degree indebted to the exten- 
sive and indefatigable labors of our 
army, during a period of some twen- 
ty years. The facility with which 
good roads can be constructed in 
Florida is very great, the country 
is generally level, the soil is every- 
where mixed with sufficient sand 
to cause it to absorb the rain, and 
rocks are but seldom met with. 
There is certainly no new country 
in the United States in which the 
roads are so extensive and so go»J 
as in Florida. 

The very extensive inland navi- 
gation and facilities of transporta- 
tion with which nature has so richly 
endowed the State of Florida, can 
be greatly increased, at many points 
by artificial means, and at a very 
moderate expense. For example it 
has been estimated, by a competent 
Engineer, that the expense of exten- 
ding inland navigation by means 
of rivers and lagoons, from the St. 
John's to cap(\ Florida, a distance 
of about three hundred and fifty 
miles, would not exceed one hundred 



81 



dwusjtnd dollars. In orilcr to com- 
plete over two hundred miles of this 
navigation, it is only neccessary to 
connect South Lafijoon with Indian 
River by cutting; a communication 
through the "Haulover," which is 
not more than eight hundred yards 
in extent. 

The rapid progress which Florida 
has made within the last five years, 
in internal improvements has al- 
ready been projected, and which 
has been to a great extent construct- 
ed, shall have been completed, Flor- 
ida will posses facilities of internal 
Iransportation and travel such as 
but few even of the older States 
enjoy. 

Five years ago, there was 'not 
more than twenty miles of railway 
in the whole State of Florida. 
About that time a system of rail 
ways, to the extent of seven hun- 
dred and thirty miles, was project- 
ed and chartered ; and of those sev- 
en hundred and thirty mills, there 
arc at this time, not less than three 
hundred and twenty miles comple- 
ted, in operation, and doing well ! 
A large portion of the remainder is 
bnder contract and partially con- 
structed, and it is confidently ex- 
pected that, in less than four years, 
the whole of that system will be 
ttompleted. 

The road connecting the Atlantic 
xrith thetGulf of Mexico, (the "Flori- 
da Railroad," which is one hundred 
and fifty-four miles long,) which 
runs from Fernandina to Cedar 
Keys, and which forms the most im- 
portant link of connection on this 
continent, will he completed in less 
than three "weeks from this time. 

The road from Jaeksouvillc to 



Lake City, mxty miles hi len;3;th, 
was finished more than a month ago, 
and its extension to Tallahassee, 
about one hundred and two miles 
further, will be completed by next 
September. 

The Penaacola and Montgomery 
Rbad is making rapid progress, and 
will probably be finished in less than 
ayenr. 

So much for tho natural and arti- 
ficial means of transportation and 
travel in Florida. 

In discussing the Internal Im- 
provements of Florida, I feel that I 
only perform anjact of common ju«- 
tice when I pay a passing tribute 
to the faiher of these improvements. 
To the Hon. D. L. Yulee, of the 
United States Senate, is chiefly, if 
not exclusively, due the merit of 
having created the great railway 
system which is now^ progressing so 
rapidly towards completion in Flori- 
da, and which|ha8 already advanced 
so materially the prosperity of that 
State. Had it not been for hi.? 
genius, enterprise and unfaltering 
perseverance in grapplingiwith ob' 
stacles which few men would have 
encountered, Florida would most 
probably have been found five yearii 
hence as she was five years ago, 
with but twenty miles of railway 
within her borders. Palmam qm 
meruit ferat. ; .» 
VERDAIX 
ij;;,i.;- 1 iff* 

NO. vm. "Jf;??^ "•"'fl 1 

Gainesville, Fla., May, 25, '60. 

The means of interna/ transpor- 
tation and travel in Tejca^ con- 
trast very unfavorably with thoso 
of Florida. The rivers of Texas are 
fur so extensive a country, compar- 



32 



otively few, nnd their nnvigolion 
extremely defective. The conse 
quence is, that the distance from 
nuj of the most populous settle- 
ments in that Stnte to a port from 
which produce can bo conveniently 
whipped, are, pjenerally, from two 
to three hundred miles. And *as 
the roads are, during the winter 
months, almost impassable, it is 
evident that planters in Texas must 
generally incur much greater diffi- 
culty and expense in transporting 
*heir produce to market than those 
in Florida, where thirty miles is 
the greatest distance from naviga- 
tion, and where the roads are fine 
lit all seasons of the year. This 
evil will, doubtless, be in a great 
<legree obviated in the course of 
time by th> extensive construction 
of railway in Texas. 

Texas, like Florida, may be said 
to have only commenced her inter- 
luil improvements within the last 
^ix years. She has already pro- 
jected a system of 2,267 miles in 
extent of railroads, and had at the 
close of 1857, 284 miles completed 
.•»nd in operation. It would, how- 
eter, require an immense expendi- 
ture in railways, to render trans 
portation and travel throughout 
Texas as it was in Florida, even 
before a mile of railway had been 
constructed there. 

The white population of Florida 
xf\\\ compare well with that of any 
other State, new or old, in obedi 
ence to the laws, and in moral 
character. It can be asserted with 
truth, that there is no other new 
State in the Union whose society, 
in general, is so orderly intelligent, 
luhivutcd aud refined, ua that of 



Floridn. This we can ncconnf: for' 
when wo trace it to its source — i 
The first settlers of Middle Florida' 
were generally enterprising, educn--' 
ted gentlemen, who emigrated there 
8om« forty years ago from Virginia, 
and North and South Carolina, and 
gave tone to the society of tlie new 
Territory. The population which 
has flowed into East Florida, with- 
in the last fifteen years, has emi-' 
grated chiefly from Carolina, Geors 
gia an 1 Alabama, and the propor-' 
tion of first-class planters which i{ 
embraces, forms a Inrge and controll- 
ing element in the society of thafc 
section of the State, and a more 
desirable element than this, it would 
be hard to find in any country. 

When it is remembered ihnt 
Florida must remain forever exempt 
from the ravages of Indians — that 
her population is a law abiding and 
as orderly as any other, and that 
her climate is tlic most salubrious 
in. the United States, I feel that 
there is good reason to assert that 
life and property is as at least as 
secure in that State as it is in any 
other in the Union. 

Security of life arid property is, 
probably, less in Texas than it is 
in any other State in the Union.— ^ 
The most warlike and formidable' 
tribes of Indians on this continent, 
constantly menace her borders, and 
frequently make bloody forays into 
the very centre of her settlements. 
Texas is likely to be infested by 
these terrible neighbors for half a 
century to come, for it will take «t 
least that time for them to become 
extinct, and nothing short of their 
extincti(.>n will evergire full sccuri-^ 
ty to the Toxau frontier. 



S3 



From vijvious reports it iipponrs 
evident thut tliore iire but few por- 
tions of Texas in which the settler 
ean, at all tiuies, feci perfectly se- 
eure from the danjer of Indians in- 
cursions ; and this circumstance 
must, of itself, render both life and 
property much less secure in that 
State than in Florida, where no 
Micli danger can ever again exist. 

1 liave in these letters ondenvor- 
pil to give a faithful sketch both of 
Florida and Texas, and I feel con- 
vinced from extensive personal ob- 
servations, and from information 
♦lerived from the most reliable sour- 
ees, that every statement \vhich I 
liivve made is substantially true. — 
Bat humaiuan est errare, and if 
any one will point out to me an in- 
stance whereii\ I have erre<l, I shall 
feel grateful for the correction, ami 
shall cheerfully concede what is due 
in truth. My solo aim in writing 
these letters has been the promul- 
gation of truth on a subject which 
I conceive to be of much interest to 
many of my fellow citizens, and one 
on which 1 feel sure there prevails j 
much delusion, and if their publi- 1 
cation will contribute in any degree j 
to dissipate the error and to estab- 1 
lish truth, I shall feel that time oc- 
cupied in writing them has not been i 
misspent. j 

If all the facts which I have pre-. ' 
eented in these letters respecting { 
Florida and Texas be true, the fol- ! 
lowing summary of the advantages { 
which the former possesses over the | 
latter State must be conceded : ' | 

I. That Florida possesses al 
much more salubrious climate than ' 
Texas. 

2 A much more agreeable cli- \ 
mate. I 



?.: jMucii better seasons. 

4. A larger pronortiuTi of avniTa-. 
ble lands. 

5. A much greater ((iiantity, 
and a much greater variety of gond 
timber, ami a much more general 
distribution of it. 

G. A much greater qua^nttiy of 
good water, and a much more gOR- 
al distribution of it. 

7. A much greater variety of 
productions, and much more valo«- 
ble staples. 

8. A greater number of good 
navigable rivers, and much better 
roads. 

9. Superior harbors, and a muck 
greater number of tliem. 

10. A much more favor»blo ge«- 
gra[)hical position. 

11. Greater facilities of internal 
transportation and tra\el. 

12. Greater security of life and 
property. 

Ilere, then, are no less than 
twelve advantages, and several of 
them of primary importance, AvhicK 
Florida possesses over Texas. How 
is it with Texas ? Does Texas pos- 
sess any advantage over Florida^ 
except that her rich lands can bo 
purchased at lower prices. I havo 
not been able to discover Avhat that 
advantage is, nor have I ever met 
any one, during fifteen years' in- 
quiry on the subject, that coultl. 
point it out to me. '.'j 

It will naturally be asked how it 
happens that a country which pre- 
sents to the emigrant so many and 
such ^extraordinary advantages as 
are here assigned to F^lorida should 
have attracted so much loss emi- 
gration than Texas and other new 
States, which have, comparatively, 
GO few inducements to offer. 



84 



-This question can be satisfactori- 
ly answered. 

Previously to the commencement 
of hostilities, in 1835, East Florida 
was almost a terra incognita to all 
except the savage tribes* who inhab- 
ited it. It is true that a few settle- 
ments had been established on its 
borders, and its interior had been 
partially explored by a few daring 
adventurers ; but it was not till 
after it had been extensively tra- 
versed by our armies, and it most 
difficult recesses penetrated, that a 
correct idea had been formed of its 
general topography, and, of course, 
out little was known of its re- 
sources. 

Indeed, up to a recent period, but 
little was known of East Florida, 
even by its nearest neighbors ; and 
numerous were the misrepresenta- 
tions which were extensively circu- 
lated, verbally and through the 
press, in relation to its health, ag- 
ricultural resources, &c., by those 
who had but a mere glimpse of the 
country, and whose inexperience or 
prejudice disqualified them from 
forming correct opinions. 

The fact that East Florida re- 
mained from 1821. when it was ce- 
ded to the United States, up to the 
close of 1832, either the allotted 
residence of Indian tribes, or the 
theatre of Indian hostilities, will of 
itself, sufficiently account for the 
little knowledge that prevailed, 
in the neighboi-ing States, of the 
climate, soils, or productions. 

This general ignorance of the 
country was succeeded by a general 
delusion, and this delusion was cre- 
ated by the extensive circulation of 
the superficial and erroneous views 
and misrepresentations of men who 



had merely marched over tlie V^ 
ninsula — and whose circumstances 
disqualified themjfrora forming prac- 
tical and enlightened opinions re- 
specting it. In short it was officers 
of the Army, and not planters of 
Cotton, Cane and Tobacco, who 
gave to the world the first impres- 
sions of East Florida. Thatthoseim- 
pressions were unfiivorable was not 
owing to any want of candor on 
their part ; men who have never 
seen an acre of the country under 
cultivation, and who hare been al- 
ways accustomed to estimate the 
fertility and productiveness of soils 
by the darkness of their color — 
naturally regarded the sand and 
marl mixed lands of the Peninsula 
as worthless, and did not hesitate 
to proclaim, without reserve, the 
great sterility of the country. 

So with regard to health. Long 
before it was possible to test the 
salubrity of the climate, dreadful 
accounts were published about the 
"pestilential swamps of Florida,"' 
and it having been inferred from 
the general topography of the coun- 
try, that it ought to- be flickly, ita 
insalubrity was determined upon 
and proclaimed before there could 
beany possible evidence of its truth. 
The crude and prejudicial opinions 
of inexperienced men who viewed 
everything around them through 
the medium of their own hardships 
and privations, were published to 
the world as truths, and so much 
was the public mind thus abused, 
and so difficult is it to effiice first 
impressions, that to this day, these 
delusions prevail extensively, even 
among the inhabitants of neighbor- 
ing States. 

As an instance of the extrava-^ 



gant misrepresentations wliicli were ' 
extensively propagated, by the first 
explorers of the country, I shall 
simply state the fact, that in the 
early part of the Florida War, it was 
a common expression among them 
that "the whole Peninsula was not 
worth the ?nedicine it would cost in 
conquering it !" Meaning thus to 
imply, in one pithy sentence both 
the insalubrity and sterility of the 
country. A stronger illustration 
than this could not be given of the 
general ignorance which then pre- 
vailed, respecting a country which 
•can now be proved stands on an 
equality with the richest of the 
Southern States, in fertility of 
soil ; and far surpasses all of them 
in salubrity of climate, in prospec- 
tive value of productions and in the 
facilities of transporting these pro- 
ductions to market. 

These misrepresentations form 
one of the reasons why immigration 
into Florida has been retarded.— 
Others will be noticed in my next 
letter. 

VERDAD. 



NO, IX. 

Gainesville, Fla., June 2, 'GO. 

In my last letter I stated that tlie 
extravagant misrepresentations which 
were so extensively proniuloatcd in 
relation to Florida, shortly after the 
commencement of the Semiuole war, 
and which tended so much to delude 
the public opinion ever since, was one 
of the causes which retarded imiuigra- 
lion into that State. Besides this, 
four other potent causes concurred to 
direct immigratoin from Florida. 

First, the geographical position of 
the State, which places it outside of 
all the great Hues of travel, and which. 



consequently, prevented an early kuowl- 
edge of the country, and a prompt dis- 
sipation of the injurious misrepresen- 
tations relating to it. 

Secondly, the residence within her 
borders, till three years ago., of several 
bands of warlike and ferocious sava- 
ges. 

Thirdly, the difficulty of obtaining 
clear titles to land.s, owing to the facts 
that the public domain had been but 
partially surveyed, and that a large 
portion of the country was covered 
with Spanish grants, the boundaries of 
whichjwere still undefined. 

Fourthly, the annexation of Texas 
and the acquisition of California, to 
which countries so many thousands 
were directed, without ever having 
seen Florida, and I may almost add, 
vrithout ever having heard of it. 

These circumstances, of themselves, 
afford a satisfactory answer to the 
question, why immigration into Florida 
has been much retarded ? 

But when, in addition to these se- 
rious obstacles.'the facts are considered 
that it was only within the last eigh- 
teen years that it was possible to settle 
in East Florida without the mostjm- 
minent risks of life, and that immigra- 
tion into that State had to be derived 
almost exclusively from ;;^the Slave 
States, the wonder is, not that the 
population of Florida has increased so 
slowly, but that it has, under sucb'very 
adverse circumstances, run up so rap- 
idly from 54,470 in the year 1840, to 
150,000 in I'SGO, 

Florida under the most unfavoarble 
circumstances, quadrupled her inhabi- 
tants in twenty years ; and if it can be 
made appear that none of the obstacles 
above enumerated can ever again im- 
pede her settlement, we shall have 
good reason to infer that the next ten 
years v/ill exhibit a very great acces- 
sion to her population. 



8(5 



Iwlmllnow cmkyivor to show that 
fbe various causics whiob hav« hereto- 
fiiro seriously im{ieiied thu setlleuieut 
t»f Fhjridii have l«een so fur rciiioviid 
as to ofter hereafter uo obstacle to iiu- 
Htigration. 

First. The experience of the many 
tliousaiids of iiijiuigr;nitd who have 
settled in Floridii within the lust fif- 
t«en years htive been very generally 
disseiuiiiated thronghuut tlie Southern 
8tuteH, and cannot have failed to cor- 
root, in a great degree if not entirely, 
the vurioun errors and inisrepresenta- 
iiona respecting the hoaltli, agricultu- 
Wil resuurces, &o , of the country, 
which had been promulgated so ex- 
tensively for seveial years before it 
was possible to refute tiieni by actual 
experiment 

The planters of Florida have, within 
the hiiit fifteen years, rarely failed to 
loake large and reiiuinerative crops, j 
and are certainly, at this time, at least 
&8 prosperous a» any other planters in 
the Union 

The health which the pbmtcrs of 
Fltrida have enjoyed during this pe- ! 
yiod, has been niuch better than it has j 
been in any new agricultural State.- — j 
Tho most trying period to the health i 
©f u new agricultural country is that ! 
when extensive "clearings" are made, | 
nnd Florida has passed through the j 
crieis most triumphantly. In Warion, I 
Alachua, and other counties iu East j 
Florida, ytiry extensive clearings have | 
been made and numerous plantations 
opened, within the last few years, and ' 
yet the health of tlio.se counties has ' 
been remarkably good during this I 
whole period, and much better than ! 
in otluT States where no clearings ' 
Isavo been made for many years. j 

The planters of Fioiida can, with ' 
but rare exceptions, reside wrth safety 
on their plantations at all fceason.s ul' 
the year ; and this, it in well known 



oannot Ix^ done in most of t!je otl'ie-r 
Southern States, where they generally 
escape from theuj in May, and do not 
venture to return to them till Novenj- 
ber, or until after frost has occurred. 

Although Florida has not been »o 
fortunate as Texas, and most of the 
other new States in having poets to 
celebrate her character! nevertheless, 
is already sufficiently known to shield 
her in future from the effects of su^h 
misrepresentations as formerly injured 
her. 

Second. Heretofore the geograph- 
ical position of Florida placed her out- 
side of uU the great lines of travel, 
and so irreglar and defective wero 
communication, that access to her whs 
both difficult and expensive The 
conseqence was that no travellers or 
enimigrant.s ever saw the country, un- 
less they went there under inconveni- 
ence and expense for the special pur- 
pose of doing so. And such, more- 
over, was the reputation which her first 
explorers had bestowed upon her, and 
such was the dread of Indians, though 
hundreds of miles distant, that it waa 
only the very enterjirising and adven- 
turous that were ever prompted to 
cross her borders. This i.v another of 
the obstacles which can never again 
operate against the settlement of 
Florida. 

The completion of the ■•Florida 
Railway," within a week from this 
time, which connects the Atlantic at 
Fernandina. with the Gulf of Mexico 
at Cedar Keys, will open immediately 
one of the most extensive lines of 
travel on the continent. Tho main 
part of tho travel between the Atlan- 
tic Coast, and the Southern portion of 
the Mississippi Valley, of Texaa, 
Mexico, Cuba and California, cannot 
fail to [lass over this route j so that 
Florida instead of being i.solated, as 
heretofore will Lcoonie the inevitable 



•entreof aliiM? of immense travel, which 
will enable many thousands every year, 
to visit her oi 'passant^ f>nd t'urm their 
own opinion re^pecling her. 

Third. The dread of Indians in 
Florida, has probably contributed 
more thim all other causes to prevent 
itnuiigratiou into that State Up te 
the close of 1842. there wus scarcely 
any portion of the State secure from 
their ravages. Aud although they 
were, towards tho clo^a of the year, 
reoioved to the Southern part of the 
Peninsula, such was tho genernl terror 
which their former atrocities had 
spread throughout the Southern States, 
that but few emigrnuts would venture 
\ii settle within two huudred miles of 
their new location. 

They were confined to tho South 
part of the Peninsula for about four- 
teen years ; and, although they but 
rarely, during that period, committed 
any serious depredations, they, never- 
theless, served as a bugbear the whole 
time, 80 it was till about three years 
ago, when they were removed beyond 
%he Mississipi, aud they ceased to op- 
erate as u great obstacle to the settle- 
ment of the State. 

Fourth. The difficulty in obtaining 
clear titles to lauds has also been re- 
moved. All the largo claims, such as 
"The Forbes Grant" tho "Aro- 
dindo Grant," &c., have been 
abjudicated and are now in market. — 
The whole State has been surveyed by 
the Government, to within a few miles 
cf the Everglades ; aud nearly all of 
it hne been proclaimed, and oftered for 
itale. Besides, lands in the wild state, 
and in various degrees of improve- 
ments, can be purchased at moderate 
terms, from private individuals. 

Fifth. Most of the delusisious which 
diverted emigration from Florida to 
Tttxas, California and the Pacific coast, 
baT-itig beet) already dissipated, it is 



not likely lliat tlic Jfctllcnient of Florfr 
da will ever again be retarded by thi* 
cause. The character of California, tut 
that of Texas, is much butter under- 
stood, as present that it ^Ha ten •yearn 
ago. The charming illu.«iou which 
distance so generally ''lends to the 
view," rapidly disappear, as the loco- 
motive appproaches ; and the verj 
large number of emigrants who have 
already "seo-u the elephant," in both 
these countries, and the many unfor- 
tunates whom increased facilities of 
travel will enable to see him within 
thf^ next year.s, will be quite sufli- 
cicntj to disseminate such realities jm 
will prevent an extensive recurrence of 
this evil. 

As respects California, it is not my 
intention at present to discuss its char- 
acter, hni, en j^assant^ I shall mention 
one fact which of itself ought to ba 
quite sufficient to deter agriculturists 
from emigrating to that State. It is 
this, that although remarkably large 
crops of wheat, oats and barley, (but 
no corn, cotton or sugar,) can be made 
in that -State, those crops must be al 
ways at the mercy of the most preca- 
rious and unreliable markets. Thi» 
results from the fact that California 
has no regular foreign markets ; and 
therefore, as soon as her home market, 
which is necessarily limited, has been 
supplied, the surplus produce becomes 
almost valueless. I have myself, secQ 
potatoes sell, one yctir, as high as ton 
cents per pound, and the next year 
one cent per ^ound was their current 
price, and many thousands of bushels 
were left to rot, there being no market 
for them. 

Such extreme fluctuation as this, 
with the price of labor enormously 
high, (from three to five dollars a day) 
necessarily renders agriculture in Cal- 
fornia a most unreliable and harardous 
pursuit. 



88 



,The fiketoh which I have given of 
Florida io these comiunnications will, 
tio doubt, surprise lunny of those 
whono ideas of that country have been 
ehie£ly derived from uiisrepresenta- 
tions which were so extensively spread. 
ftt the coininenceraent ot the war, vphcn 
the Peninsular had been but partially 
viaited, and scarcely at all understood. 
To generalize from insufficient data is 
a commou error, and never was it 
■more forcibly illustrated than in the 
ease of East Florida, whose whole 
eharacter was so unreservedly de- 
nounced by those who had but the first 
glitnp»e of her features. It is not 
surprising that men who had been 
Bubjected to severe hardships and 
privations, should have viewed through 
%n unfavorable medium the country 
which was the scene of their sufferings ; 
and hence we find that it was from the 

Eartial evils that were encouutered by 
er first explorers that the general 
character of East Florida was por- 
trayed. 

There are but few States or Terri- 
tories in the Union which I have not 
Tifited ; and after many extensive 
comparisons and careful observations 
and inquiries, extending over a pe- 
riod of more than twenty years, I can 
now assert w'.tb confidence, that I 
know of no country, new nor old, that 
presents to the emigrant so many ad- 
vantages, and 80 few drawbacks, as 
Florida. 

It has always been a commou re- 
mark that "Florida is lie best country 
in the world for a poor man," and the 
Irutb of this has never been denied, 
even by those whose prejudices were 
strongest against the country, and who 
knew little or nothing of its resources. 
Indeed, it is impossible for any one 
who visits the settlements in Florida, 
and witnesses the abundance, ease, 
•omfoft, and oveu luxury, in which 



the poorer classes of the inhabttanlj 
can live, and not be forcibly struck 
with the truth of this observation. 

It is admitted by all the settlors in 
that country that any man who will 
work as many as three hours a day, 
can provide himself and family with all 
the necessaries and with many of tho 
luxuries of life. There are but f«w 
industrious men in that country so 
poor as not to possess abundance of 
corn, vegetables and fruits, which cost 
them but little labor ; and plenty of 
cattle, hogs and poultry, whtch multi- 
ply without expense. They have, with 
but little exei-tion more venison, tur- 
keys and other game than their fami- 
lies can consume, and there is scarce- 
ly a neighborhood in the State in 
which fine fish is not within conveniens 
distance. They have besides, their 
sugar patch" and "cotton patch," the 
former of which supplies them abun- 
dantly with sugar and molassoa 
throughout the year, and the latter 
with nearly all the clothing which they 
require in so mild a climate. 

It is scarcely necessary to remark 
that a country which all admit is so 
good for the poor man, cannot be ba^ 
for the rich man ; the soil which so 
readily yields a good support to tho 
one, will as readily yield a proportion- 
ate profit to the other. There is cer- 
tainly no country in the United States 
in which the planter can turn his cap- 
ital to sucli profitable account as hd 
can, at this time in Florida ; nor is 
there any country in the world wher,« 
he can live more luxuriously. He h^s 
here within in his reach, all the lux- 
uries of the tropics, united to those of 
more Northern latitudes, and both of 
these he can enjoy iu a climate which 
is itself a luxury 

Although confident mysc]f . that 
Florida possesses many important ad- 
vantages as a planting country over 



w 



anjr oth^r in the United States, I would 
uovertheles.s, shrink from the respon- 
eibility of advising any man to remove 
there before he had visited the country 
and satisfied him8elf,-by personal ob- 
BerTfttion, nnd a thorough inquiry, on 
the spot, that it was to his advantage 
to make it his permanent residence. — 
It would do well for all who are de- 
sirous of emigrating to make a visit of 
exploration to Florida, before they de 
termine on settling in Texas. Califor- 
uia, or any other country. This they 
can now do with great facility, and at 
but little cost ; and even should they 
be afterwards induced to move further 
on, the time and money spent on this 
visit will not have been lost. They 
will thon be enabled to form enlighten- 
ed contrasts, and arrive at a sound 
judgement in a matter which so deep- 
ly concerns them. And should they 
finally detorraine to fix their residence 
in a more remote region, they will have 
the satisfaction of feeling certain that 
they have not been duped, by news- 
paper misrepresentations, to leave be- 
hind them a much better country than 
that in which they have selected their 
Dew homes. This is the last of mv 
letters on Florida. V ERDAD. ' 

OcAi.A, Floiuda, October 1866. 

The foregoing articles would be incom- 
f)lftte without the statement of some ad- 
ditional facts, which the lapse of thne and 
the effects of the hite war has made im- 
portant to >^e mentioned. Readers from 
all the States are particularly inyited to 
tlieir consideration. 

1st It should be remembered that the 
author of the artick-s is not an intercst^'d 
jjroperty owner, but was a Surgeon of U. 
S. A., of extensive travel and observiition, 
and well qualified to judge impartially and 
correctly of the matters which he writes. 

2nd. That the ravages of the late war 
did not extend to tlie interior of the Penin- 
Bular, and the country at its close was in 
ffood condition to commence a fair trial of 
Oie new ;^i5tcm. 



8rd. That the romly di«po.'?UIoa of oj}> 
people to give the frecdmen and new sys- 
tem a fair trial, has resulted in a rich har* 
vest and great profits irt agricultural pur- 
suits. 

4th. That the enlianccd value of tho 
leading product, Sea Island Cotton, It 
bearing three or four times its former price, 
makes its cultivation the most profitable 
pursuit ever before known to agriculture. 
In illustration of this, take the authors 
figures, and as a basis of calculation, allow 
the present price, He estimates the ca- 
pacity of the Penin.sula sufficient toproduco 
2,000,000 bales. That is worth now abonl 
S800 ,000,000 nearly twice as ranch »« 
the exports of the United States. Cal- 
culate f >r the profits of a siigle hand.— 
A hand will make an averngo threujh 
ten years two bales of Cotton, and 
corn sufficient to subsist himself and mulct 
At present prices tliat would be about 
$800 per year. These figures have 
been realized in practice this year. There 
arc farmers here who have made ono 
thousand dollars to the hand this year, 
and provision to subsist the place npon. 
The hands, at stated wages, could have 
been procured at one hundred and flf^y 
dollars and rations. 

5th. That experience has shown that 
Long Cotton is the most profitable crop, 
and one to which the soil and climate is 
well adapted. The great body of tho 
planters are mainly engaged in its cultures 

6th. That the people ore exceedingly 
desirous to have emigration come into tho 
country. There is great demand for capU 
tal and labor. Capital to take up the land 
and pay laborer?, and laborers to reduce 
the land to cultivation. All kinds ofla^ 
borers are in great demand 

7th. That northern emigrants as well 
as others are desired, all our people desir- 
ing emigrants and capital from all parts of 
the world. 

8th. That the construction of Railroads 
has greatly increased the conveniences of 
the country. One road now runs across tho 
Peninsular, another in process of consUOc- 
tion through it, from North to South. 

9. That Marion county is tho richest 
county in the Peninsular, with steam-boat 
navigation at all seasons of the year to it« 
centre, and that Alachua, Levy and'Hcr-*- 
nando. arc also very rich connties. 

OCALA. 



40 



FOR CHATilESTON, S. 

€., via Jacksonville, Fernan 
dina, St, Marys, Brunswick, 
and Savannah, Ca., 
THE STEAMER 




-CAPT. T. J. LOCK WOOD, 
COMMANDER. 

^■THIS fine Steamer having been placed 
1 pernianentlj- on tlie line between Gliar- 
leston and Palatka., touching at all the 
landings on St, John's River, solicits a 
»harc of public patronage. Being com- 
manded by officers of experience, well and 
ftivorably known, and having good accom- 
modations for passengers and freight, every 
guarantee of comfort and safety may be 
Hclicd upon. 

Loaves Charleston every Sunday at 7 a. 
tn., Savannah Monday at 10 a. m , arriving 
here Tuesday evening. 

Pweturning will leave Palatka Tuesd;iy 
wight, arriving at Savannah on Tuesday 
^id Charleston on Friday, making connec- 
tions with the various lines of Railroads 
and Steamships for the North and Wcst^ 
H. L. HART. 
Agent at Palatka, Fla. 

^ THE e7\8T FLORIDA BANNER 
is iniblisliod every Wcflnesday at Ocala, 
Vljk, at ¥3 a year, and is one of the 
beet advertising niodiuius in llie State. 



■x 



The n«w and elegant Steamer 




1,000 ■37C3>3NrjS, 

L. M. COXETTER., Master, 

Will leave Charleston every Snturdaj 
evening, 3 p. m,, for Fernniidinn, JnrkiH>n- 
ville, and all intermediate landings ou th« 
St. John's River. 

BETURNING : 

Will leave Palatka every Monday morning 

at 7 o'clock. 

Will leave Jacksonville every Tuc«diiy 
Morning at 3 o'clock, arriving in Uhar- 
IcBton same evening. 

The Steamer "Dictntor," will resume her 
trips to Savannah as soon as the quaran- 
tine r estrictious are taken oft". 

septia 18 — om 

LINE -hacks' 

FROM 

Ocala to Gainesville 

W'lLLleaveGAINES 
VILLK EVERY ^^ 
TUESDAY nud SAT, 
UHE A Y \\\w\i the arrival of the train, 
Aarrive at Ocala the same night. 
Leaves Ocala every 'I'lICNSDAY and 
SUyUAY morning. 

J. U. DUOWK & CO. 
Juk 18 8-lf 



Lb,\;- 



«TKPHK\ C. liKBIiLlH.. 



y.nw. SATlCKU. 



DeBruhl & Badger, 

.A.TTODFt3XrDE3-S'SAT LAW 

OCA LA, FLORIDA. 



Smallwood, Hodgkiss & Co,"^ 
COTTON FACTORS 



4. 



S. IVI. G. GARY, 

ATTO R N B Y A T L A W.^ 
OCA LA. FLA. 



J, J. FINLKY, 

A T T O R N E Y A T L A W. 

.LAKE CITY, FLA. 

LAW NOTICE. 



ATTORNEY AT LAW, 
so: I err OR ix chancery. 

G.MN'ESVIM.K, Ff.A. 

E. M. Li'Eiio-ie, 

ATTORNEY AT LAW, 
J A GKSOy VILL E, FLORIDA. 

Will praftieo in the l>;istt'i-ii Circuits. 

87y. fTnley, 

A T'J OR XE Y A T LA W, 
BIIOOKSVILLE, FLORIDA, 

WILL i)racl.iee in tiie Soutlu-rn aiuJ Eas- 
t-ni .liiiiicial Circuits. 



Ao. ]u BEAVER .STREET, 

T. L. SMALLWOOD. 
Formerly Smallwood, Earle & Co., anil J. 
L. Snialhvouil & Co., N. Y. 
Tiros. IIODftKrSS, Ga., 
(iEO. \\. SCOTT. Ha., 
I). JL POOLE, Ga., 
J.ato llotlgkLss, Scott t Co.,- N. Y. 

WE aro pi-opared, tlironch RESIDENT 
A(fKNTS, to advance on and sell 
COTTON in all SOURTIIEP.X PORTS, oi- 
t<»i\vard from these port.'* to NEW YORK, 
or LIVERPOOL DIRECT, as our friends 
may ]>refer. 

Our eonticetions in LIVERPOOL are 
such as will Lriveour custoin'.>rs all the ad- 
vantaijes <^>^ that market. 



EAST FLORIDA BANNER, 

IS PUBLISHED EYERY 

V/adnesday Morning, 
AT OCALA, FLA.. 

BY T. F. SMITH, 
STEPHEN C. DoBRUHL, 

.♦SSOOI.aTK koitok. 



|[RiViS--a DOLLARS A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. 



iTtMiiiM for Aclvci'fi»>iiig: 

On«' S(inare, (10 lines) tiist insertion SI 60 
linch Mubseiiuont insertion, - - 1o 



Plantation for Sale near 

OCALA, FLA. 

I PLANTATHLX fontaini:)^ Thivo Jlnn- 

i» drcd and Kiiihty acrtrs of land wwvi 

i or less, and .siliiatt'd fonr miles south-east 

of Oca la, is ollercd for sale on ri-asonable 

' terms. 

The ahovc place was fonnorly owned h.r 
.lesse Ihinter, and lias ahont one Iniiidred 
, .-iiid sixty acres clearefl and at present hm- 
<ler cultivation. 

For further particulars, applv to .^. S. 
Lewis, Fleminjjton, or to S. .M. G. Oarr, 
OcaM, Kast Fh.rida. 

i TJMrnjfrwi"— """ " — »"-» 



Valuable Land for Sale. 

.<r)r\ AAA ACRES of excellent 

'ZU,UOW Pineand Hammock 

Lands, situated in Marion county, in tracts 
of from tiiree to six hundred acre.s. 

deBruhl a badger. 



¥ 



thing in FloriJa, send your advertise- 
nietit!* to the E.vst Fr-ORiDA Banner, 
piibli.slied at Ooala, Marion c'ty, Fla. 



